Ayla Granados Leads Chico State to Sixth-Straight CCAA Championship Title

Oct 26, 2013

Photo Courtesy: Chico State Athletics

CHICO – Senior from Castro Valley, Ayla Granados captured the individual title as well as led the Chico State Wildcats to their sixth consecutive team title at the 2013 California Collegiate Athletic Association that took place at Hooker Oak Recreational Area on Saturday morning.

Granados came to the Wildcats squad in 2012, and earned the CCAA Newcomer fo the Year Award for her third place finish at the CCAA Championships in La Jolla. This season she added some more hardware to her collection after receiving the 2013 CCAA Runner of the Year award with a time of 22:10.9 for the 6-kilometer race.

Chico State's Sara Mikesell also took a huge part in the Wildcats victory, following right behind Granados for a second place finish of 22:14.4. Four other Chico State runners -- Jessica Varela (22:41.0), Rebekah Bahra (22:41.9), Haley Kroll (22:49.0), and McCall Habermehl (22:50.0) -- all had top-15 finishes to help the Wildcats to a team total of 29 points.

For the second year in a row Cal State Stanislaus finished second as a team after collecting a 77 points with their top runners. Senior Rachel Naranjo had her best finish of the year after clocking a time of 22:18.8 and finishing third among the field of 99 runners.

Cal Poly Pomona rounded out the top 3 CCAA teams with 118 points. UC San Diego finished fourth with 123 points, Cal State L.A. finished fifth with 156 points, while Humboldt State collected 159 for a sixth place finish. San Francisco State (166 pts), Cal State San Bernardino (183 pts), Cal State East Bay (191 pts), Cal State Monterey Bay (210 pts), and Sonoma State (339 pts) wrapped up the team rankings.

This year's All-CCAA team consisted of the top 15 men's and women's runners to cross the finish line. Chico State made up five of the spots, while Cal State Stanislaus' Marina Vorderbruegge and Dallas Campbell joined Naranjo with an eighth and ninth place finish, respectively.

San Francisco State had two runners to earn All-CCAA honors, Zuleima Bernal who finished fifth overall and Paxton Cota who finished in 10th. Sabrina Lopez represented Cal State L.A. with a fourth place finish, while Sarah Perrin crossed the finish line first for the Pioneers, 11th overall. Broncos' Lizette Huerta and Cal State Monterey Bay's Hannah Bell also received All-Conference honors after finishing 12th and 14th, respectively.

Joining Granados in earning an individual award, Cal State East Bay's Sarah Perrin was named the CCAA Freshman of the Year and Haley Kroll was named the CCAA Newcomer of the Year. The Freshman and Newcomer of the Year are awarded to the first "true" freshman finisher and to the first finisher that has not previously competed at a CCAA school or any other four-year institution.

Wildcats' men's and women's cross country head coach, Gary Towne was named the Coach of the Year for the 16th time in his Chico State career.

In celebration of the 75th Anniversary year of the CCAA, each runner was given a souvenir patch that was worn during competition.

2013 All-Conference Team

Ayla Granados (Chico State)
Sarah Mikesell (Chico State)
Rachel Naranjo (Cal State Stanislaus)
Sabrina Lopez (Cal State L.A.)
Zuleima Bernal (San Francisco State)
Jessica Varela (Chico State)
Rebekah Bahra (Chico State)
Marina Vorderbruegge (Cal State Stanislaus)
Dallas Campbell (Cal State Stanislaus)
Paxton Cota (San Francisco State)
Sara Perrin (Cal State East Bay)
Lizette Huerta (Cal Poly Pomona)
Haley Kroll (Chico State)
Hannah Bell (Cal State Monterey Bay)
McCall Habermehl (Chico State)

Runner of the Year: Ayla Granados
Freshman of the Year: Sara Perrin
Newcomer of the Year: Haley Kroll
Coach of the Year: Gary Towne