Despite his sophomore status, Chico State cross country’s Aaron Mora has established himself as the team’s most consistent runner this season, finishing among the nation’s third-ranked team’s top three runners each time out.
Saturday at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, Mora posted a personal-record time over the eight-kilometer distance (4.97 miles) of 24:26.4 to finish 43rd overall in the Division-I heavy field, helping the Wildcats finish tied for fourth. Chico State defeated regionally-ranked Division I teams UC Santa Barbara, Utah State, Santa Clara and Idaho State.
Mora opened the season with a 28th-place finish at the Stanford Invitational (2nd on the team), shaving 15 seconds off his time from the year before. The Whittier High School product finished 11th at the Charles Bowles Invitational (third among the ’Cats) in 24:35.
Mora and the Chico State men’s cross country team are back in action Nov. 8 at the CCAA Cross Country Championships in San Bernardino. The Wildcats will be in search of their 13th consecutive conference title. Mora finished ninth at last year’s CCAA Championships in Chico to help lead the Wildcats’ to a dominating victory. He earned CCAA Newcomer of the Year and All-Conference honors in the process.
