Chico State Wildcats Track & Field hosted its 42nd annual Chico Multi Classic on Thursday and Friday, an early-season contest for both experienced collegiate multi-eventers and developing new athletes.
The Multi Classic featured both a men’s decathlon and a women’s heptathlon, allowing students from five different schools to compete against each other.
Men’s decathlon day one:
The decathlon comprises 10 events over two days. On day one, athletes compete in the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and the 400-meter dash.
The competition was filled with Chico State athletes. Redshirt freshmen Lavell Cross, senior Ronin Tidd, freshmen Samuel Raunegger, freshman Miguel Long, and redshirt freshmen Zander Newman all competed.
The meet kicked off with the men’s 100-meter dash. Cross made his college debut and clocked a time of 11.39, finishing third overall. Tidd matched his personal best, finishing fourth, with a time of 11.54 and Raunegger .01 second behind him, with a time of 11.55.
The ’Cats swept the long jump competition shortly after the 100m, Long marked 6.50m in the sandpit, placing first. Cross was not far behind, finishing in second place with a mark of 6.46m and Tidd took third at 6.40m.
Next, we met in the shot put ring. Tidd had a massive throw of 11.96m, propelling himself into first place. Cross came in third with an 11.13m throw.
High jump was an exciting competition with both Tidd and Long jumping off for the first-place title. Tidd finished first with a jump of 1.88m, Long not too far behind him with a mark of 1.85m.
The ’Cats had one more event of the evening, just one lap around the track. The 400-meter dash. Tidd ran a new PR in the event by 2.47 seconds, finishing with a time of 52.22 and crossing the finish line in third. Cross ran a 52.64, finishing fourth.
Overall, the ’Cats had a strong day one. Tidd ended the day with 3,434 points across all fields. Cross scored 3,259. Raunegger scored 2,327. Long scored 3,215 and Newman ended the day with 2,570 points.
Women’s heptathlon day one:
The ’Cats only had two women competing in the heptathlon – seniors Annabella Low and Talynn Schroeder. The heptathlon comprises seven events. On day one, the women competed in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200-meter dash.
The ’Cats kicked off the evening on the track with the 100-meter hurdles. Schroeder ran a PR in the 100 hurdles, crossing the finish line with an impressive time of 14.83 and finishing in first place. Low clocked a time of 17.38 and finished sixth.
“Hurdles is a big event for me that I need to improve on,” Low said. “That will help a lot points wise and bringing confidence and energy helps.”
Next, they headed to the mat for the high jump. Low jumped a remarkable PR of 1.60m and took third place, with Schroeder right behind her with a mark of 1.48m and finishing fourth.
The women took the ring in shot put next, where they both threw PRs. Low threw 9.58m and placed third, Schroeder took fourth place with a throw of 9.54m.
The ’Cats then took the track for the last event of the day – the 200-meter dash. Schroder finished second with a speedy time of 26.90, and Low crossed the finish line with a time of 28.73, finishing ninth.
Ending day one, Schroeder had 2,682 points and Low had 2,366.
Men’s decathlon day two :
The ’Cats started the second day with a first-place finish in the 110m hurdles. Cross came first with a compiled time of 15.71 seconds. Also competing, Newman finished in fifth place with a time of 16.58 seconds. Tidd finished behind Newman in sixth with a time of 16.78 seconds and Raunegger did not run.
The success continued as Tidd placed first in discus with a 35.40-meter throw. Raunegger finished shortly behind him in third place with a 34.33-meter throw. The rest of the ’Cats finished middle of the pack with Cross in sixth and Newman and Long finishing eighth and ninth.
The pole vault was a big point scorer for the ’Cats, taking two of the top three spots. Tidd had a PR of 4.30 meters, finishing in second place. Cross came in third with a PR of 3.60 meters. Long and Newman would tie for seventh with 3.10 meters.
Tidd’s dominance would continue through the javelin throw, taking first with a throw of 53.16 meters, less than one meter off of his PR. Long had a standout performance, throwing 43.31 meters, placing fourth and earning a new PR.
The meet capped off with the men’s 1500-meter. Long finished in first place with a PR time of 4:45.22. Tidd finished not far behind, with a PR of 4:55.51.
Overall, the ’Cats had a great showing in the decathlon with Tidd taking home first in overall points. Cross and Long also finished inside the top five, placing third and fourth. Newman placed eighth, and Raunegger placed thirteenth.
“We got some young dogs, and I think the men are going to have it. I think we got conference this year,” Newman said.
Women’s heptathlon day two:
The heptathlon reopened on day two with the long jump. Schroeder placed fifth with a best jump of 5.05 meters, notching a new PR. Low also posted another PR of 4.69 meters and placed seventh.
Schroeder’s PR streak continued as she set another one in the javelin throw with a mark of 30.49 meters, earning her second place in the event. Low placed fourth with a throw of 27.01 meters.
The last event of the heptathlon was the 800-meter. Low placed in second with a time of 2:30.41 and Schroeder placed eighth with a time of 2:48.68.
Schroeder ended up taking third overall and Low came in sixth, less than 50 points short of 4000, her goal for the day.
“I’m definitely happy that I overall PR’d, it’s a good season opener,” Low said. “I’m excited for what that’ll bring me for the rest of the season.”
The women are also confident they will take home a league title this season and are relying on many new athletes to step up this year. They feel that they have the work ethic to get the job done.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Cody Rowan, Maya Vanlaningham, and Jamison Leung can be reached at [email protected]
