[Results] [Photo gallery]
After a two-year hiatus, the
Chico State women are back in the winner's circle at the 2023 CCAA Women's Cross Country Championship. The Wildcats won the meet with 45 points as five runners earned all-conference honors.
However, the talk of the championships was all about the performance of the 2023 CCAA Runner of the Year,
Gianna Bomarito. The
Sonoma State sophomore led the 6k race at Quarry Park Regional Park from start to finish with a CCAA meet record time of 20:28.3. She finished 49 seconds ahead of second place for her third race win of the season.
In the end, it was
Chico State hoisting the trophy for the 13th time in 15 seasons. It broke the back-to-back wins of
Stanislaus State to ensure they would be the only program so far in the 2000s to have a three-peat. The Molina twins, Iresh and Della, led the way with third and fourth-place finishes. The Chico natives paced the way for Wildcats, who had only one senior in its lineup. The sophomores posted times of 21:18.4 and 21:21.7, respectively.
Chico State then placed three runs in spots No. 11-15 to lock down the program's first time since the pandemic.
Sophie Pelletier placed 11th,
Hannah Wirth finished 12th, and
Jaclyn Denham took 15th to secure the 45 team points. Iresh Molina and Denham were both repeat all-conference selections.
Stanislaus State was not too far off the pace set by Chico. Running with a young team, the Warriors earned 61 points to place second.
Holly Little earned 2023 CCAA Newcomer of the Year honors by placing second at 21:17.1.
Jacqueline Sanchez joined Little on the awards stage as she earned CCAA Freshman of the Year honors with the top time among her classmates.
Annie Wild joined two teammates as All-CCAA selections with her 13th-place finish.
Her placement would turn out to be critical as the Broncos were charging in hard at the end.
Cal Poly Pomona posted 63 points to finish third. They placed three runners in the top 9, with
Alondra Arias' sixth-place finish leading the way.
Vivian Martinez and
Angie Arellano finished back-to-back, placing eighth and ninth, respectively. The third-place finish was the best since 2014, and the 63 points are a new program-low.
Cal State San Marcos and
Cal State Monterey Bay finished fourth and fifth. Cal State San Marcos earned 134 points and was led by
Carly Schuerger in 16th.
Lisa Irvine had the top time for the Otters (22:35.4) as they posted their program's best finish.
Host
Cal State East Bay took sixth place, and Sonoma State finished seventh.
Kimberly Luna collected an all-conference honor in front of the hometown fans for her fifth-place result (21:31.2). Bomarito also collected all-conference honors in addition to her Runner of the Year award.
Teams will now turn their attention to the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 4 in Monmouth, Ore. All teams can participate in the meet, but only a few will advance to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 18 in Joplin, Mo.
| 2023 CCAA Women's Cross Country Championships |
| Place |
Team |
Score |
| 1 |
Chico State |
45 (3-4-11-12-15-17*-23*) |
| 2 |
Stanislaus State |
61 (2-7-13-19-20-30*-39*) |
| 3 |
Cal Poly Pomona |
63 (6-8-9-18-22-32*-34*) |
| 4 |
San Marcos |
134 (16-21-27-33-46-67*-68*) |
| 5 |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
165 (28-29-35-42-43-48*-58*) |
| 6 |
Cal St. East Bay |
170 (5-26-51-52-56-63*-82*) |
| 7 |
Sonoma St. |
178 (1-38-47-49-64-73*-86*) |
| 8 |
Cal State San Bernardino |
220 (36-40-53-55-61-62*-66*) |
| 9 |
Cal Poly Humboldt |
220 (10-41-54-70-75-76*-84*) |
| 10 |
San Francisco St. |
223 (14-31-60-65-88) |
| 11 |
Cal State LA |
346 (79-80-87-90-91) |
| 2023 CCAA Women's Cross Country Awards |
| Runner of the Year |
Gianna Bomarito, Sonoma State |
| Newcomer of the Year |
Holly Little, Stanislaus State |
| Freshman of the Year |
Jacqueline Sanchez, Stanislaus State |
| Coach of the Year |
Gary Towne, Chico State |
| Elite 13 |
Olivia Renfro, San Francisco State |
| 2023 CCAA Women's Cross Country All-Conference Team |
| Place |
Name |
Team |
Time |
| 1 |
Gianna Bomarito |
Sonoma St. |
20:28.3 |
| 2 |
Holly Little |
Stanislaus State |
21:17.1 |
| 3 |
Iresh Molina |
Chico State |
21:18.4 |
| 4 |
Della Molina |
Chico State |
21:21.7 |
| 5 |
Kimberly Lima |
Cal St. East Bay |
21:31.2 |
| 6 |
Alondra Arias |
Cal Poly Pomona |
21:41.6 |
| 7 |
Jacqueline Sanchez |
Stanislaus State |
21:42.0 |
| 8 |
Vivian Martinez |
Cal Poly Pomona |
21:42.5 |
| 9 |
Angie Arellano |
Cal Poly Pomona |
21:45.6 |
| 10 |
Isabel Perez-Zoghbi |
Cal Poly Humboldt |
21:47.0 |
| 11 |
Sophie Pelletier |
Chico State |
21:48.2 |
| 12 |
Hannah Wirth |
Chico State |
21:49.4 |
| 13 |
Annie Wild |
Stanislaus State |
21:55.8 |
| 14 |
Anika Pettinger |
San Francisco St. |
21:56.3 |
| 15 |
Jaclyn Denham |
Chico State |
21:58.1 |