Published 2006-05-09T00:00:00Z”/>

Douglas Benton

In a year marked with individual record-breaking performances, the Chico State men’s track and field team capped off conference competition with a dominant team effort over the weekend.

The men’s team compiled a total score of 211, beating its closest competitor, host UC San Diego, by 46 points. This is the third championship win in a row for the Wildcats and four in five years.

The Wildcats won seven individual titles, with five coming from the men’s side. The weekend was highlighted by the team effort in the men’s 1,500-meter final, where Chico State took the top five positions and six of the top seven. The charge was led by Scott Bauhs, who placed first in the event and subsequently made All-California Collegiate Athletic Association with a time of 3 minutes 51.05 seconds.

“Basically, it wasn’t even his best event,” coach Kirk Freitas said. “We try to get our kids qualified early because the conference championship is a team day.”

In the 5,000-meter, Chico State again showed a dominant team effort with Charlie Serrano capturing the title with a time of 14:32.42. The Wildcats were also able to place in five of the top seven spots in the race, continuing their dominant performance.

Other event winners were Dustin Fee who defended his title in the 800-meter, Tim Tollefson making two in a row in the steeplechase and Troy Lalaguna in the javelin throw.

Freitas said that while he doesn’t know who has made it to nationals yet, eight people either set provisional marks or updated provisional marks. Those people were Bauhs, Serrano, Kyle Ivie and Angel Marquez in the 1,500-meter; Fee and Michael Wickman in the 800-meter; Lalaguna in the javelin throw; and Brendan Page in the hammer throw. Freitas also said other athletes set provisional marks before the CCAA championship.

The Wildcats also picked up some yearly hardware at the championship, as Freitas won Coach of the Year for a third year in a row.

“We have the best coaching staff in the conference,” Freitas said. “I really believe they are as good as I have seen in any program.”

Wickman was named Co-Freshman of the Year along with jumper Scott Tsuda of UC San Diego.

“You will be printing his name for a lot of years,” Freitas said of Wickman.

For the third-place women, it was a weekend of close calls as the Wildcats were only able to pick up two individual titles, even though they were close in many other events. The Wildcats finished a distant third behind Cal State L.A. and host UC San Diego.

Darci Burton won the heptathalon and Jennifer James won the 3,000-meter with a time of 9:56.73. Each earned first place finishes and All-CCAA.

James missed defending her title in the steeplechase by finishing in second place by a little less than three seconds. Burton received second in the javelin throw.

Chico State did very well in the heptathlon by placing three people in the top five, capped by Burton’s win. The Wildcats also had good finishes in the 5,000-meter with Mary Torres finishing second at a time of 17:30.37 and a sixth place finish by Cara Harvey with a time of 18:14.74.

Douglas Benton can be reached at

<a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>