For a second straight year, the Chico State Cross Country teams have swept the California Collegiate Athletic Association conference championship and head coach Gary Towne obtained another sweep of his own.
Towne and the men’s team ranked No. 6, obtaining their unprecedented 22nd consecutive CCAA Championship. The women’s team ranked No. 13, also defending last year’s title, now winning 18 of the previous 22 team titles.
Both Wildcat cross country teams have won 40 of the last 44 conference championship races since 2002.
Due to the success throughout the year and at the conference championships, Towne was named CCAA Cross Country Coach of the Year for both the men’s and women’s teams,further establishing himself as the most awarded coach in all CCAA conference sports with this being the 16th time he’s swept the award, amounting to an astounding 37 total COTY awards.
“It was just nice to come away with a couple more wins and adding to a pretty neat tradition and legacy that we’ve built up,” Towne said.
On the men’s side, Chico State filled out the front of the race with six of their 10 runners finishing inside the top 10, led by sophomore Mario Giannini. Giannini would eventually take the individual honors, finishing in first with a time of 24:06.1, earning the Wildcats their 16th straight individual medalist honor.
The stellar pair of twin sisters, Della and Iresh Molina, led the women’s race. Della wound up taking first place, running a 21:11.9, marking the first time a woman Wildcat took home the award. Iresh endured some physical setbacks throughout the race but came back and finished in second place with a 21:13.7.
“Winning conference, it’s kind of like a pride thing, you know,” Towne said. “It does nothing to advance us into the postseason, but it’s more like bragging rights within the CCAA.”
The win also wraps up a schedule of dominant conference play and sets up both Wildcat teams to roll right into NCAA regionals on Nov. 9, hosted by Montana State University Billings, where the men’s team will be looking to win their eighth straight regional title and the women are determined to recapture their first since 2019.
“That’s what it’s all about, you know, it’s going out there and competing and seeing if we can win the day,” Towne said.
Towne and the Cross Country teams are also advising any Wildcat supporters to save the date, Nov. 23, for the NCAA D2 Cross Country Championships at Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento.
The last time the championship was held in Sacramento was in 2019 and Chico State had more than 500 supporters come out and cheer on the Wildcats.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Lukas Mann can be reached at [email protected].
