Jimmy Elam could not stand on his own after crossing the finish line in 15th place at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. He was in tremendous pain. It hurt so good. "It was a pretty cool experience knowing that I actually gave it everything I had in my last college cross country race," he said afterward.
Elam, this week's Wildcat of the week, tied assistant coach Patrick Boivin for the ninth best NCAA Championships finish in the history of Chico State men’s cross country program. Only Boivin, Scott Bauhs, Charlie Serrano, and Chris Eggers have finished higher for the Wildcats since the 1969 season.
Elam's senior season was nothing short of outstanding. He won the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship and Willamette Invitational title. He finished second at the UC Irvine Invitational, fifth at the West Region Championships, and 10th at the Stanford Invitiational.
In the illustrious history of Chico State men's cross country, only two other runners can, like Elam, claim a season in which they won the conference title and then finished in the top five at the Regional Championships and top 15 at the National Championships. Scott Bauhs won all three races in 2008 and Patrick Boivin finished first in the conference, first in the region, and 11th in the nation in 2005.
Elam found himself in around 30th place three kilometers into the 10-kilometer race. But the grueling course featured a number of hills and that is where he began passing people.
"I just focused on breaking people on the hills and starting picking people off," he said. "I was hitting the hills hard and passing people and I was recovering well so I kept it up."
Fifteen demoralized opponents later, Elam crossed the line in 15th place in the 182-runner field.
