Chico State Wins 15th-Straight CCAA Men’s Cross Country Championship Title
ONTARIO — The Chico State men’s cross country team, led by two-time CCAA Runner of the Year Will Reyes, snagged the program’s 15th-consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men’s Cross Country Championship Title Saturday morning at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario.
Senior Reyes earned the Conference’s top honor for the second-straight season, becoming the first CCAA men’s cross country runner to do so since former UC Davis runner James Nielsen won the Conference’s individual title in both 1998 and 1999. Reyes wrapped up the eight-kilometer course in 24:18.1.
Reyes’ 18-second margin of victory surpassed last years finish, but continues to rank second in the conference just behind former Stanislaus State runner Vincent Moreno (19.5 seconds).
The Wildcats improved on last year’s team score, totaling 20 points on the finishes of Reyes, junior Connor Fisher (2nd, 24:36.1), junior Falco DiGiallonardo (4th, 24:45.3), Arturo Arevalo (6th, 24:49.3), and Kyle Medina(7th, 24:50.6).
Cal Poly Pomona finished second as a team with 67 points, edging third place UC San Diego, which compiled 69 points. San Francisco State was fourth with 101 points and were followed by Cal State East Bay (5th, 159 pts.), Cal State Monterey Bay (6th, 171 pts.), Stanislaus State (7th, 210 pts.), Humboldt State (8th, 218 pts.), and Cal State LA (9th, 252 pts.).
Joining Reyes in claiming individual awards were Cal State San Marcos’ Vahagn Isayan and Josh Litwiller, who earned the Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards, respectively, and Chico State head coach Gary Towne, who was voted as the CCAA Coach of the Year by the league coaches for the 12th time in his 21-year career with the Wildcats program.
The top 15 finishers received All-Conference honors:
| Finish |
Name - Institution |
Yr. |
Time |
| 1. |
Will Reyes - Chico State |
Sr. |
24:18.1 |
| 2. |
Connor Fisher - Chico State |
Jr. |
24:36.1 |
| 3. |
Tareq Alwafai - UC San Diego |
Sr. |
24:40.3 |
| 4. |
Falco DiGiallonardo - Chico State |
Jr. |
24:45.3 |
| 5. |
Drew Feldman - San Francisco State |
Jr. |
24:48.0 |
| 6. |
Arturo Arevalo - Chico State |
So. |
24:49.3 |
| 7. |
Kyle Medina - Chico State |
Jr. |
24:50.6 |
| 8. |
Brendan Gee - UC San Diego |
Sr. |
24:51.1 |
| 9. |
Steven Martinez - Chico State |
Sr. |
24:51.3 |
| 10. |
Christian Rodriguez - Cal Poly Pomona |
Jr. |
24:51.8 |
| 11. |
Mark Huizar - Cal Poly Pomona |
Sr. |
24:51.9 |
| 12. |
Aaron Mora - Chico State |
Sr. |
24:55.6 |
| 13. |
Aren Johnson - UC San Diego |
So. |
25:07.7 |
| 14. |
Vahagn Isayan - Cal State San Marcos |
Jr. |
25:11.4 |
| 15. |
Steven Velarde - Chico State |
So. |
25:13.0 |