CHICO – You’d have to go all the way back to the 2003 season for the last time the Chico State men’s track and field team failed to come away with top honors in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship meet. Not to be outdone, the Wildcat women won the conference title last year for the first time since 2004, halting a five-year reign by UC San Diego. Both Chico State squads – 64 athletes strong – will proudly carry their “team to beat” moniker into Turlock this Thursday through Saturday for the 2011 edition of the CCAA Track and Field Championship, taking place at Warrior Stadium on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus.

The Wildcat men’s team, ranked 17th in the nation by the United State Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), will be shooting for its eighth consecutive CCAA title when the conference meet kicks off Thursday with the first five events of the decathlon. Talor Fulfer, Michael Beeman, John Brunk and Jon-Michael Delima will represent Chico State in the two-day, 10 event competition.

The Chico State women’s team is No. 19 in the nation as it prepares to defend the conference crown. The seven-event heptathlon also gets underway Thursday, with Kelly Clancey, Nichole Brieno and Maddie Allen among the seven CCAA athletes competing.

As the decathlon and heptathlon wrap up Friday, the CCAA Championship’s field events begin at 1 p.m. The Wildcat quartet of Ashley Webster, Brooke Shepard, Madalyn Groulx and Breanna Wallace will compete in both the women’s hammer and discus, while Kasey Barnett, Julianne Conrad, Ashley Reno and Dora Kibbee will be in the field in the women’s pole vault. On the men’s side, five Chico State pole vaulters – Delima, Fulfer, Brunk, Adam Fry and Zach Schallberger – will be competing; Derek Nichols, Zach Wales and Konrad Dahl are all entered in the men’s hammer, with Nichols and Wales also competing in the men’s discus.

CCAA Championship running events commence Friday at 5:30 p.m., as Kara Lubieniecki, Tori Tyler and Anna Eicholtz line up for the qualifying heats of the women’s 1,500-meter run. Aimee Rodgers is the lone Wildcat in the 100-meter hurdles, while Nicole Cooper is entered in the 100- and 200-meter dash. Sprinters Damaris Greer, Isaiah Haywood, Nick Sloggy and Jordan Alford-Helems will run in the men’s 100- and 200-meter dash, while the preliminaries in the 800-meter run promises to be a dogfight, with Wildcats Clinton Hayes, Manny Mejia, Daniel Parker and Joseph Rivera toeing the starting line for Chico State. Friday’s running events conclude with the men’s and women’s 10,000-meter run; Brent Handa, Joey Kochlacs, Alan Campos and Alfonso Cisneros are entered in the 25-lap men’s race, with Olivia Guadiana, Sara Mikesell, Shannon Rich and Paige Henker representing the ’Cats in the women’s 10k.

Field events resume Saturday morning with the men’s javelin, followed by the women’s triple jump, with Conrad, Barnett, Kaitlin Clancy and Brandy Tummings competing for the Wildcats. Conrad will also take part in the women’s javelin and high jump, while Webster will compete in the javelin and shot put. Fulfer, Brunk and Zach Long are entered for Chico State in the men’s high jump, with Clayton Francis being the lone Wildcat to participate in the men’s triple jump.

The CCAA Championship will come to an exciting conclusion with the finals of the men’s and women’s steeplechase, 4x100 relay, 1,500-meters (the men’s race featuring Mejia, Parker, Rivera and Julian Spence), 100- and 400-meter dash, 800-meter run and 400-meter hurdles. No less than 12 Wildcats – Lubieniecki, Tyler, Rich, Guadiana, Mikesell, Henker, Alia Gray, Natalie Galvan, Shannon McVannel, Amy Schnittger, Brooke Bergesen and Hayley Swanson – will be in the field for the women’s 5,000-meter run, while on the men’s side, Handa, Kochlacs, Cisneros, Spence, Rivera, Isaac Chavez, Anthony Costales and Zach Zadrozna will run the men’s 5k. Like last season, the final events of the meet are the men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relay – Clancey, Rodgers, Melissa Rene and Michelle Burley will carry the baton for the Chico State women, with Hayes, Haywood, Oliver Shabram and Matt Sloggy teaming up for the Wildcats in the men’s 4x4.

For complete information, including entries, heats, start times and more, CLICK HERE to visit the CCAA Track and Field Championship home page.