November did not go as Talia Swangler planned. Chico State's junior transfer from Butte College was poised and peaking at just the right time to help lead the Wildcats cross country team into the NCAA Championships.
Then, her world was turned upside down. Swangler is a graduate of Paradise High School and her family still lived in the town— just 12 miles east of Chico—before the Camp Fire raged through it, burning down nearly everything in its path.
With little time to process the tremendous loss, Swangler stepped onto a plane bound for Billings, Montana, for the NCAA Championships Regional. Not surprisingly, Swangler was not at her best. In fact, her 74th-place finish marked her roughest race of the season.
With Saturday came the first day of December and the NCAA Championship Finals in Pittsburgh, Pennsyvlania. Swangler bounced back with her best race of the season.
The Wildcats' No. 7 runner at the West Regional, Swangler finished fourth on the team and 84th in Division II to help lift the Wildcats to an eighth-place finish and earn Wildcat of the Week honors.
Swangler started the biggest race of her collegiate career near the back of the 260-plus runner field. But she rose through the pack, slowly emerging from the throng while picking off competitors with every few strides. She moved up 53 spots by the second split, 40 more by the third, and by posting the team's second-fastest final three kilometers, rose 60 more positions before crossing the finish line.
