Saturday’s NCAA Championship run won’t be the fondest memory of Isaac Chavez’s Chico State cross country experience. But that’s only because he’s already accomplished so many amazing things. Chavez, this week’s Chico State athletics Wildcat of the Week, finished 13th in Joplin, Mo., making him the only runner in Chico State history who can boast a trio of top-13 NCAA Championship finishes.
The junior from Barstow battled illness throughout the day, but still managed to move up five spots over the second half of the race to finish the 10-kilometer course in 28:53.5 and help lead Chico State to a fifth-place finish.
Chavez has now led the Wildcats to three straight top-five finishes in the nation. He finished fifth at the NCAA Championships as a freshman and third last season. Saturday he received the third All-America award of his career. He, Scott Bauhs and Patrick Boivin are the only Wildcats who have won the honor three times. Bauhs, who won the NCAA title as a senior in 2008, also finished 3rd, 24th and 29th. Boivin boasts finishes of ninth, 11th, 15th, and 20th.
Chavez now holds claim on three of the top 12 NCAA Championship finishes in Chico State history:
1. Scott Bauhs - 1st, 2008
2. Isaac Chavez - 3rd, 2011
2. Scott Buahs - 3rd, 2006
4. Isaac Chavez - 5th, 2010
5. Charlie Serrano - 6th, 2006
6. Brent Handa - 7th, 2010
7. Patrick Boivin - 9th, 2004
8. Michael Daily - 10th, 1969
9. Patrick Boivin - 11th, 2005
9. Chris Eggers - 11th, 2002
11. Jimmy Elam - 12th, 2009
12. Isaac Chavez - 13th, 2012
