Tori Tyler could have stopped short of the finish line and waited for as long as it takes world's fastest eater Takeru Kobayashi to eat two and a half hot dogs before crossing the line and still broken the Chico State record in the 10,000 meters. She could have waited until he finished that third frank before crossing and still earned an Automatic Qualifying time for the NCAA Championships. Tyler, a junior from Los Altos, finished the Stanford Invitational 10,000 meters in 34:47.65 Friday. Her time is the third best in the nation by a Division II runner this year and stopped the clock 43 seconds ahead of the NCAA Automatic mark cutoff and more than 35 seconds faster than any Chico State runner in history. She finished eighth overall in the Division I dominated field and has been named Wildcat of the Week.
Tyler, who has already netted All-American cross country and distance running honors during her Chico State career, bettered her previous personal best in the competition by more than a minute.
It should also be noted that Tyler would be more likely to take those hot dogs away from Kobayashi and give him some veggies instead. The Pre-Nursing major has spent time as a nutrition columnist for The Orion, Chico State's newspaper.
