Both Chico State’s track and field teams darted to the Bay Area to compete in the Mike Fanelli Track Classic and Stanford Invitational this weekend. Even with such an eventful weekend for the Wildcats, it did not overwhelm them as they broke double-digit personal records collectively.
Women’s track and field:
The Women’s track team dominated at the Mike Fanelli as Nicole Anthony cut 18 seconds off of her best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:32.30. Not only did this earn her third place overall but she is now No. 4 on Chico State’s all-time steeplechase.
Anthony’s teammate Haley Boynton placed 12th overall and earned a provisional mark. She broke her personal record by two seconds finishing at 10:44.50.
Alexandria Tucker ran her season-best 5,000 meter run on Friday with a time of 17:04.09 placing her 30th overall. This earned her a National Collegiate Athletic Association provisional mark.
Other notable runners in the event were Nora Pizzella who finished in 56th place with a time of 17:18.63 and Kayden Carpenter in 69th place posting a 17:33.24.
The Wildcats continued their successful start as Taylor Bailey and Katie Hawley set personal bests in the 1,500-meter run. Bailey shaved 14 seconds running a 4:48.78 and Hawley saved 13 seconds running a 4:58.27.
The team continued this momentum on Saturday as Anthony, Elyssa Schall, Hawley and Tucker took first place in the Distance Medley Relay. Anthony started the race as the 1,200-meter leg, Schall followed as the 400-meter leg, Hawley took on the 800-meter and Tucker conquered the 1,600-meter leg.
In the Stanford Invitational, it was no different for the women’s team as they posted multiple season-best performances.
Megan Farrell placed sixth in the pole vault with a 3.48-meter throw. Nadia Torkman shared second place in the high jump with 1.61 meters. Then followed Sheena Blackwell in the 400-meter hurdles running a 1:02.20 and that earned her ninth place overall.
On Saturday Jordyn Dorsey, Isabella Moyer, Sydney Proiette and Lyndsey Settle earned the ninth fastest effort in program history for the 4×100-meter relay. They completed the relay in 47.65 seconds placing them in ninth place.
Blackwell, Claire Chappell, Proiette and Savannah Bailey followed in the 4×400 meter relay placing in 14th place in a heavy Division I field. Even with the competitive field, they manage to earn No. 9 on Chico State’s all-time 4×4 list.
The invitational finished off with Olivia Abbott in the triple jump and Taylor Nevitt in the hammer. Abbott placed fifth with a 10.97 jump and Nevitt ended with a 43.69-meter throw.
Men’s track and field:
The men kept up the winning spirit as they posted 10 personal records in the Mike Fanelli Classic.
Eddie King participated in the men’s 10,000 meter alongside Jason Intravaia late Thursday night and placed 33rd out of 109. King earned second place amongst the Division II runners with a time of 30:14.34 and Intravaia finished at 30:48.93.
Then late Friday night all seven Wildcats that participated in the 5,000-meter run set personal records. The first runner to cross the finish line was Wyatt Baxter with a time of 14:33.52. Trad Berti (14:40.08), Remington Breeze (14:41.47), Teddy Kassa (14:49.35), Luis Ortega (14:50.11), Jack Emmanuel (15:02.39), and Christian Woolfolk (15:08.20) all trailed behind Baxter.
On Saturday, Derek Morton made his season debut participating in the 800-meter event earning 9th place overall. Regardless of his placement, he still set the No. 2 performance in school history.
Morton later took on the distance medley with Mathew Herrera, Conor Wells and Jack Johnson. Herrera started of the race as the 1,200-meter leg, Morton followed as the 400-meter leg, Wells was the 800-meter leg and Jack Johnson finished off the race as the 1,600-meter leg. They blew by the competition by more than an 11-second win a time of 10:08.89.
The Men also impressed in Stanford as true freshman Kristofer Castillo accompanied by seniors Tyler Arroyo and Sefa Ilaoa placed well in the classic.
Castillo started off with the 100-meter run and completed it with an unbelievable time of 10.55 seconds getting 8th place overall. It is the most competitive time anyone has run since Terence West broke the record ranking Castillo No. 2 in Chico State history.
Arroyo matched his personal record in the high jump at 2.14 meters on his last try. He was then given the chance to clear a 2.17-meter jump to earn an NCAA championship auto mark and cleared it on the first try. This makes him the first Division II athlete to do so in the current season and is currently ranked No. 2 in Chico State history.
Ilaoa shined in the hammer on Friday as he finished in fourth place and is now No. 6 on Chico’s all-time list with a throw of 55.30 meters.
On Saturday, Michael Good was the only NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the day in the 800-meter run. He finished with a season-best time of 1:51.90 earning him 20th place and is ranked No. 8 in the nation and leads the NCAA.
As both teams prevailed, they look forward to continuing strong performances at their last home event this coming weekend. They will be hosting the Chico State Distance Carnival and Twilight Invitational Saturday, April 6th.
Lucero Del Rayo-Nava can be reached at [email protected] or @del_rayo98 on Twitter.