Women Set to Toe the Line Saturday at the 2019 CCAA Cross Country Championships
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When the women set to the course at Baywood Golf and Country Club in Arcata Saturday morning, all eyes will be on fifth-ranked Chico State. Entering as the prohibitive favorite having won the past 11 CCAA Cross Country Championships team titles, this year’s host course may play as a challenge to the Wildcats, and an advantage for host Humboldt State.
The Jacks welcome student-athletes from 12 CCAA schools, as runners from Humboldt State will be joined on the 6,000-meter course by Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State East Bay, Cal State LA, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State San Marcos, Chico State, San Francisco State, Sonoma State, Cal State Stanislaus, and UC San Diego.
The layout is filled with hills and obstacles for runners, which should give teams like Humboldt State and Chico State an advantage and familiarity with undulating terrain.
“The course is probably more challenging than most courses that most teams have run,” said Humboldt State Coach Jamey. “In that way it presents an advantage for us because we’ve practiced on it several times, we’ve raced on it a couple times so we’re more experienced with this specific layout.”
The numbers don’t lie, but neither does the course, and Chico State coach Gary Towne truly believes this.
“I’d say if anybody has an advantage it would be Humboldt and the teams that did the conference preview,” Towne said. “But knowing that it’s a hilly course, we’ve trained accordingly.
“Hopefully we’ll be prepared. It’s going to be a pretty hilly golf course setting, which is pretty similar to the course we ran last time Humboldt hosted (the CCAA Championship in McKinleyville in 2009),” Towne said. “It just happened to be a different golf course. But we’re looking forward to it. It’s a beautiful part of the country and its nice to go to a place that’s a beautiful venue.”
On Sept. 6, the Jacks hosted the 2019 Humboldt Invitational at the BGCC, where three teams from the conference were present. Humboldt State beat out Oregon Tech, Cal State Monterey Bay and Sonoma State in the four-team competition. The winner of the individual trophy could be a favorite from Humboldt State, as the Jacks’ No. 1 runner Hannah Hartwell began her college career with a 30 second victory over Delani Dietrich of Oregon Tech. She will look to better her season-best 6K time of 22 minutes and 54.44 seconds set in the victorious effort.
Along with earning CCAA Runner of the Week to open the year, Hartwell’s 13th-place finish at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Ore., nabbed her a second weekly award to open the month of October. UC San Diego’s Madalyne Coney, Cal State LA’s Rebecca Ruiz, Cal State East Bay’s Angie Ronquillo, Chico State’s Talia Swangler, and Cal State Monterey Bay’s Brooke Roy also claimed conference honors in 2019.
While Hartwell will lead the Jacks, Swangler will attempt to lead the Wildcats. The reigning CCAA Newcomer of the Year finished seventh at the Western Washington Cross Country Classic. Swangler is a graduate of Paradise High School just north of Chico, the home of the Camp Fire that blazed through northern California in the final months of 2018. Chico State freshman Destiny Everett finished just three spots behind Swangler and will also look to mix it up for Chico State.
Behind Hartwell, Humboldt State will look to former CCAA Freshman of the Year, Cessair McKinney. Last year’s Championship Scholar and now a junior, McKinney took seventh just over a month ago at the Sundowner Invitational in Monmouth, Ore.
In last year’s championships hosted by Cal State LA on the campus of Cal State San Bernardino, Chico State claimed the team title, followed by Stanislaus State and Cal State San Marcos. Last year’s CCAA Runner of the Year Karlie Garcia earned individual honors in her senior campaign, but second place went to Wildcat teammate Alexandria Tucker. Tucker, now a junior, is expected be in the hunt for the top of the leaderboard in 2019.
In the USTFCCCA Division II National Rankings, five CCAA teams currently sit in the top 25 spots. Along with No. 5 Chico State, Cal State East Bay lands in 12th, with UC San Diego at No. 17, Cal Poly Pomona at No. 20 and Stanislaus State rounding out the ranked teams at 23rd.
In the DII West Region rankings, the Wildcats sit in the top spot, while the Pioneers land in third. The Tritons, Broncos and Warriors make up places six through eight in the always stout landscape of the West.
Other individual competitors to watch on Saturday include Ronquillo, who paced Cal State East Bay to a splashy national finish at the Southern Stampede in September as the women. Coney has paced UC San Diego in three of their four events, and the Tritons have earned the team title or runner-up status three times in 2019. Cal Poly Pomona was most recently led on the course by sophomore Luz Garcia who finished second individual to help the Broncos to an event win at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational two weeks ago. For Stanislaus State, the duo of Dede Salcedo and Nancy Juarez have been taking turns pacing the Warriors, who also have two team titles in 2019.
While Humboldt State Coach Jamey Harris and the rest of the athletic department are looking forward to the championships and hope it’s an exciting one, they’re just as equally excited to welcome the conference member-institutions to their home in the northern reaches of the state.
“This is the first time that I’ve been the coach here that we’ve hosted really a big meet at all,” Harris said. “The country club in and of itself is really just a beautiful area and really showcases what Humboldt is really all about. We’re excited that just to have the other teams come and check out the area. Most teams will be here two days before and see how friendly Humboldt County can be.”
Saturday’s races will begin at 9 a.m., as the women toe the line first followed by the men’s start at approximately 10 a.m. Awards will be presented after both races conclude as the conference recognizes the top 15 finishers as All-CCAA performers, as well as awards the Runner of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Championship Scholar.
Fans can follow the action with
live results online. A live look at the start/finish line is expected to be available throughout the day on the
CCAA’s facebook page, weather permitting. The spectator-friendly event is free and open to the public.