Noah Marcus - Chico State on CCAA Conference Meet

Chico State men's and women's teams rose to the occasion on Saturday morning to defend their respective CCAA titles from '02. Both teams won in convincing fashion outscoring their competition by 22 points on the men's side and 45 points on the women's side. Senior team captain Tyler Graff won the individual title for the men in a course record of 24:21 over the 8k course. Graff battled with the two Pomona runners (Rojas and Batres) as the trio traded surges throughout the early miles. With approximately 1/2 mile or so to go Graff made one final bid for the title, slowly pulling away from Rojas and raising his hands in victory as he crossed the finish line in front of the cheering home town crowd. Graff's victory led a slew of Wildcat's across the line as Chico landed 7 runners in the top 10 of the race, and 9 in the top 15.

Rojas and Batres set the tone for other developments in the race as the somewhat unheralded Cal Poly Pomona team was able to pull off the upset over the 7th (nationally) ranked UCSD squad. The front running of Rojas and Batres will be an important and potent weapon for the underdog (#24 ranked)CPP squad at NCAA's as both appear to be legitimate threats for top 10-15 individual placings. The Bronco's should legitimately look to be one of the top 15 teams in North Carolina, and perhaps a top 10 team if they can bring their #5 man in a little tighter. UCSD had a bit of a rough day outside of Neil Kalra's impressive 4th place finish and will need to sew up their normally tight 1-4 spread if they are to place top ten at NCAA's.

The women's race developed similarly as the trio of Katie Lee (Chico State), Ann Marie Housen (Cal State L.A.), and Sara Bouchard (Cal State L.A.) established themselves early on as contenders for the individual title. By approximately 2.5 miles Bouchard had assumed the lead with Lee close in tow, and Housen (last year's CCAA champ) slowly but surely fading. Just prior to 3 miles Bouchard laid down a strong and decisive surge that would give her the margin she needed to cruise to the victory. Bouchard looked very strong and should be considered a contender for a top 5 spot at NCAA's in November.

Lee led the Wildcat charge as 4 of the next 5 places were captured by Chico State athletes Missy Lendl, Margaret Pridgen, and Kelly Ortlieb, interrupted only by UCSD freshman Tina Firouz (CCAA newcomer of the year). The #5 ranked Wildcats have good front running and great depth and should step to the line at NCAAs ready to upset some well established programs. Similar to the men, the UCSD pack wasn't quite as tight as it's been in weeks past and the Tritons will surely look to improve on Saturday's performance in the coming weeks. The UCSD women were ranked 16th in DII going into this weekend.