BILLINGS, Mont. – No one else had a prayer at Amend Park. Not with the Chico State men's cross country team tapping out its best race of the season.
 
Six 'Cats crossed the finish line among the top 10 as the 4^th-ranked Wildcats smashed No. 6 Alaska Anchorage 30-53. It marked Chico State's third straight NCAA Championship West Regional title and resulted in the Wildcats' 16^th consecutive berth in the NCAA Championships, which will take place Dec. 6 in Louisville, Ky.
 
Johnny Sanchez finished fourth, engineering a train of five straight Wildcats that would cross the finish line in a six-second span and secure the team's 11^th regional title in the past 13 years. Kyle Medina was fifth, Nick Grubiss sixth, Alex McGuirk seventh and Aaron Mora eighth. Dillon Breen was 10^th, giving the Wildcats six All-West Region runners. Barron Maizland, limited by stomach issues, finished 33^rd in the 152-runner field.
 
"They rank like they owned the (10-kilometer) distance today," said Chico State Head Coach Gary Towne. "That's the last thing I talked to them about today and you could see that they took it to heart with the way they competed. This was the best team 10k we've had in a couple of years. I'm really proud of this group."
 
Sanchez, a two-time All-American, is the fifth athlete in the program's history to earn four All-West Region awards. He finished second last season, 21^st in 2012 and sixth in 2011. This season has been a bit of a struggle for him, however. At least until Saturday.
 
"For Johnny to bounce back and have a solid run was important," said Towne. "We need him to perform at a high level to be at our best."
 
Sanchez finished in 31:01.2 (a 5-minute mile pace), two-tenths of a second ahead of the redshirt freshman Medina. Nick Grubiss crossed the line three seconds later, followed by Mora a second later to secure the team title.
 
Breen, who Towne admitted: "pretty much ran himself off the NCAA roster" with a poor finish at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships two weeks ago, got second life when Brandon Taylor couldn't overcome a nagging injury to make the trip to Billings.
 
The senior made that second chance count.
 
"Dillon certainly made the most of his first and last opportunity at the regional championships," said Towne. "I'm really happy for him and proud of the way he ran today."
 
In fact, the team ran such a masterful race that Towne took the time to tweet a about just how well the Wildcats were running at the midway point of the race.
 
"Chico men in control at 5k. 7 in 15 man lead pack."
 
They controlled the race from start to finish.
 
"The guys did a good job of putting themselves in good position initially without doing anything crazy. They were smart and made good decisions," said Towne. "It was pretty windy when the men ran so if you were out in the middle of nowhere with nobody around you it was tough. If you were with a group you could use the energy around you and the guys did a good job of that."
 
They stuck together, stayed near the front, and knew they had a firm grasp on the win from the midway point of the race on.
 
"We had a bunch of guys who had not been on this kind of stage before," said Towne. "You wouldn't have known it by the way they ran."

COMPLETE RESULTS