ONTARIO – While much has been made of the Chico State men's cross country team winning 15 consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) titles, the Wildcat women also owned an impressive string of championships heading into Saturday's conference championships at Ontario's Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park – a streak they successfully extended. With six Chico State runners finishing in the top nine overall, the Wildcats easily outshined the field in winning the program's ninth straight CCAA women's cross country crown and 13th in the last 15 years.
Karlie Garcia (left) and Sadie Gastelum prop each other up after finishing
second and third at the CCAA Cross Country Championships.
Chico State, ranked No. 9 in the nation and No. 2 in the West Region, posted 20 team points to breeze to a lopsided victory over runner-up Cal Poly Pomona (76 points) and third place Stanislaus State (116 points).
Karlie Garcia was the Wildcats' top performer Saturday, finishing second in the 6k race with a time of 21:17.0, less than a second ahead of teammate Sadie Gastelum (21:17.9), who finished third in the 118-runner field.
Garcia and Gastelum were just two of seven Chico State harriers earning All-CCAA honors, which go to the top 15 finishers. Alex Burkhart came in fifth with a time of 21:51.0, while Nora Pizzella clocked in at 22:03.2, good for seventh place. Right behind in eighth place was Hannah Dorman (22:03.8), Haley Kroll in ninth (22:06.1) and Kayden Carpenter in 13th place (22:15.2).
Wildcat women's cross country award winners (L-R) Nora Pizzella
(CCAA Freshman of the Year), Gary Towne (CCAA Coach of the Year)
and Kayden Carpenter (CCAA Newcomer of the Year).
Gastelum picked up the third All-CCAA honor of her Wildcat cross country career, with Burkhart and Kroll chalking up their second all-conference accolades.
Camila Turati came within 1.3 seconds of grabbing her second All-CCAA award, finishing 18th overall at 22:29.0. McCall Habermehl, last year's conference championship winner, was unable to repeat, clocking in at 22:56.2 to finish 35th. Desirae Jones was the final Chico State runner to cross the finish line – her time of 23:02.0 was good for 40th place.
It was all smiles in the Chico State camp as the Wildcat women were presented with their CCAA championship banner immediately following the race. During the post-race festivities, Kayden Carpenter was named CCAA Newcomer of the Year, while Nora Pizzella was selected as CCAA Freshman of the Year. Gary Towne received CCAA women's cross country Coach of the Year honors for the fourth straight year and 12th time since 2002.
FINAL RESULTS - CCAA Women's Cross Country Championships
The Wildcat women now set their sights on bringing a national cross country championship to Chico. The 'Cats will be back in action Saturday, November 5 at the NCAA West Regionals in Billings, Montana.
