After another prevailing regular season, head coach Gary Towne and the men’s cross country team are in a prime position to win an anomalous 22nd consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association championship.

Chico State’s men and women’s cross country teams will compete in the CCAA conference championship Friday, Oct. 25. 

Led by long-time head coach Towne, the teams will be looking to continue their season-long dominance. The Wildcats men’s team is currently ranked No. 7, while the women are at No. 12 in the National Coaches Polls by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. 

Coach Towne is one of, if not the most, decorated coaches in Chico State Athletics history, with over 20 CCAA championships and countless individual awards. 

Throughout his 28 years of coaching at Chico State, Towne has been named CCAA Coach of the Year 36 times. On the men’s side, he has held the award for the past 14 consecutive seasons, owning 18 in total. On the women’s side, he has won 16 conference Coach of the Year Honors, which included a streak of 12 consecutively. No other coach in conference history has earned more awards than Towne. 

“I think it’s [CCAA championships and COTY awards] important that they do hold their own unique spot, and I think you have to approach each one independently,” Towne said. “Of course, it’s impossible to ignore what we’ve done in the past, but we try to frame it in a way that’s healthy, and the past can even give us confidence into what we may be capable of.” 

When asked how Towne has maintained this outstanding longevity, he explained the difficulty in getting the ball rolling. 

“Honestly, there’s so many pieces to that puzzle. When I started coaching, I certainly didn’t expect that we’d be in this position ever,” Towne said. “The hardest part was winning those first few when we really weren’t supposed to on paper.”

Senior Dylan White has had an illustrious seven-year career running for the Wildcats and is a perfect example of how Towne’s mentor and leadership affect his student athletes. White is the reigning CCAA Runner of the Year and last year’s conference champion. 

“It’s been an incredible experience. I came into this team at the bottom of the depth charts and have just kind of always had this vision and dream to work my way up to the top of the team eventually,” White said. “Fast forward to all these years later, and I’ve had more success running for the team, and it’s just awesome being with a group of guys and gals that are competitive and successful in everything that we do.”

Since arriving at Chico State in 2018, White has been a part of six CCAA championships and NCAA Western Regional titles. 

On the women’s side, junior Iresh Molina has been putting her competitors on notice. Molina was named an All-American in 2023 thanks to a 31st-place finish at the NCAA Championships with a season-best 20:36.1 (6k). 

“I’ve been working really hard these past few years, and I feel like this past year, especially, I’ve dialed in more on reaching my goals and setting myself up to reach them, and not just wanting them,” Molina said.  

She also won back-to-back CCAA Women’s Runner of the Week Awards this season, with a picture-perfect finish in the Kym Duyst Twighlight Invitational, where she crossed the finish line hand-in-hand with her twin sister Della. 

“We planned it just in the spur of the moment, but it was just something fun that we thought we’d do, and our mom was there, so we thought it might be cute for her,” Molina said. “It was awesome to win with her because we do everything together, so it was just fun to win with her.”

The twins were the first pair to share the Women’s Runner of the Week Awards.

“We’ve always been so competitive, and it has always dramatically increased our motivation,” Molina said. “Wanting to keep up with her not just because we want to beat one another, but because I know that if she can do it, so can I.”

The women’s cross country team hopes to defend last year’s conference title and are in the perfect shape and standing to do so. 

“[Last year] We knew our training had paid off up to that point, and we all [had] been working extremely hard,” Molina said. “Some of us were battling more challenges than others, but we still managed to pull through for that important race and got to show up for Chico.”

After Friday’s CCAA Championship, both Wildcats teams will have their eyes set on the NCAA Western Regionals and Championship. This year’s NCAA Championship race on Nov. 23 will occur in Sacramento at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex. This is as close to a home course advantage as the Wildcats could ask for, and they are expecting a big crowd to come to support the student athletes. 

The NCAA Championship was last held in Sacramento in 2019, when over 500 fans, supporters and alumni came to show out and cheer on their Wildcats. 

Friday’s CCAA Championship race, hosted by Sonoma State, will take place at Woodward Park in Fresno. 

For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the race live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through.

Lukas Mann can be reached at [email protected].