Women's Cross Country | 11/23/2019 4:55:00 PM

SACRAMEMTO—A blistering early pace turned the 2019 NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country Championships into an exercise in pain management. The Chico State women proved themselves to be one of the toughest teams in the field.
 
Led by senior Nora Pizzella's 60^th-place effort, and a 24-second split between Pizzella and the team's fifth and final scorer, the Wildcats raced to a seventh-place finish and their 17^th top-10 NCAA Championships result in the past 18 years at Arcade Creek Cross Country Course at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento Saturday.
 
"It was a solid, gritty race," said Chico State Head Coach Gary Towne. "We had such a mix of youth and experience I knew today could go any number of ways so I'm just really thankful we were able to put together a good solid run. We did a good job of hanging in there. Everybody did a good job of pain management."
 
Those 17 NCAA Championship top-10 finishes are the fifth most in Division II history.
 
Buoyed by the hundreds of Chico State fans that lined the six-kilometer course, waving flags, wearing face and body paint, and wearing out their vocal chords with chants of "Chico!," the Wildcats moved up from its ninth-place start into eighth at the mile mark and then jumped into seventh where they remained the rest of the way.
 
Few fought back from the early sprint for positioning quite like Pizzella. While others simply attempted to hold onto positioning over the six-kilometer race, the senior who was running for the final time in a Chico State cross country uniform, made up ground at every turn after falling into 113rd place early. She moved up five or more spots at each split, eventually gobbling up 24 spots over the final 1.7 kilometers, finishing her fourth and final NCAA Championships event in 21:16.6.
 
"She's been a rock for us. Nobody works harder both out here, and in the classroom," said Towne. "The thing that you worry about on this stage is people beating themselves sometimes. But not Nora. I knew she would go out and do everything that she could. And she did. That was a big part of our seventh-place finish."
 
True freshman Gracie Dupuis was right behind Pizzella, placing 64^th. Senior Talia Swangler, Destiny Everett (another true freshman), and sophomore Taylor Bailey were also close behind. Bailey crossed the line in 21:40.8, stopping the team's scoring. Desirae Jones finished 124^th and Haley Boynton 192^nd.
 
"We came into this race with big goals and I'm really excited to say that everyone on our team put in everything they had today," said Pizzella. "The competition's tough and we knew that. I was just really proud of them. We have a really young team and some of them have never been to a national meet before. And this is different than anything else. Especially for your first nationals meet, to have this much hype, they handled it so well and stayed composed and took care of business and did what they could out there."
 
Swangler and Jones are also hanging up their collegiate cross country spikes following the race.
 
"They've put a lot into this team, obviously, and they've been huge parts of what we've been able to do the past several seasons," Towne said.
 
The field of 264 was composed of 34 teams and 24 individuals.
 
Dupuis and Everett were ninth and 11^th among all freshmen in the field.
 
"It was a lot," admitted Dupuis. "But definitely all in a good way. This was so special just because I got to experience all of the Chico family, meet everybody, and run in the race. The whole experience was honestly magical to be a part of."
 
Bailey came on strong in this, her sophomore season. Boynton will be back as well.
 
"The team is in really good hands with this next generation coming through," Pizzella said. "It feels nice to put a cap on what I've put into it and now another group of wonderful people can take it over and make what they can of it. I think they're going to take the team to new heights and it's going be great. I'm really excited."
 
The race capped quite a year for the Wildcats, who returned only four runners from last season's NCAA Championships squad. They won their last three races heading into the NCAA Championships after starting the season with a third-place finish at the Stump Invitational and fifth-place finish at the Capital Cross Challenge.
 
They won the program's eighth NCAA Championships West Regional title and also won their 12^th straight California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship.
 
In winning the West Regional, Chico State became one of only three teams to reach the NCAA Championships in each year of this century, joining Adams State and Western Colorado. They've all three finished among the top 20 each time out.
 
With a talented core set to come back, and the knowledge they have gleaned from Pizzella, Jones, Swangler, and others, that streak is likely to continue.
 
"They have taught us so much and left us in a better position. But they're going to be missed because they're the best," said Dupuis. "We have a fairly young team. I think we can reach really high levels. We're just super-inspired."
 
 
TEAM TOP 10

1. Adams State–23
2. Grand Valley State–87
3. Colorado School of Mines–133
4. Western Colorado–192
5. U-Mary–233
6. Augustana (S.D.)–234
7. Chico State–319
8. Alaska Anchorage–374
9. Cal State East Bay–380
10. Walsh–393
 
Chico State Competitors
Nora Pizzella–60^th (21:16.6)
Gracie Dupuis–64^th (21:19.4)
Talia Swangler–79^th (21:29.2)
Destiny Everett–83^rd (21:30.1)
Taylor Bailey–103^rd (21:40.8)
Desirae Jones–124^th (21:54.4)
Haley Boynton–192^nd (22:41.0)
 
Team NCAA Championships History
2019–7^th
2018–8th
2017–4th
2016–4th
2015–4th
2014–13th
2013–6th
2012–5th
2011–7th
2010–5th
2009–6th
2008–7th
2007–4th
2006–9th
2005–4th
2004–6th
2003–4th
2002–5th
2001–18th
2000–9th
1998–16th
1997–17th
1979–National Champions*
 
*Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW)
All other championship performances listed are from the NCAA Championships.