Chico State Athletics

Alfonso Cisneros was one of the final athletes to make Chico State Head Cross Country Coach Gary Towne's roster as a freshman. He redshirted that year, and then exceeded expectations as a redshirt freshman, competing as one of the team's top-10 runners. This season those expecations are being blown away. Cisneros ran the best race of his collegiate career Saturday at the Stanford Invitational, finishing 35th overall as the fourth Chico State runner to cross the line. He's this week's Wildcat of the Week.

Cisneros was the sixth Chico State athlete to cross the line at Stanford last season, and never finished higher than eighth after that. But he got Towne's attention by finishing fourth overall (third among Chico State athletes) at the season-opening Humboldt Invitational. Then Saturday, the sophomore from McFarland flew down the trails alongside some of the top Division I runners in the nation and finished the eight kilometers in 35th out of 242 with a time of 24:48. He averaged a 5-minute mile pace.