SACRAMENTO—Based on its impressive results at Saturday's Sacramento State Invitational, the Chico State women's track & field team appears to be ramping up for next month's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships quite nicely. The Wildcats witnessed several outstanding efforts at Hornet Stadium that yielded nine personal best marks and a second place finish in the meet's team competition.
Chico State racked up 157 team points on the day, with only host school Sacramento State (191) scoring more. The Wildcats nearly tripled the point total for third place William Jessup (54).
But it was the Wildcats' individual performances that highlighted the day. Nadia Torkman was a multi-event winner, finishing first in both the high jump (1.61 meters) and the javelin (35.56 meters). Torkman—along with Mckenzie Blair, Chloe Taylor, and Savannah Bailey—was also part of the Chico State's winning 4x100-meter relay team, stopping the clock at 48.32 seconds. It's the fastest time for the 'Cats' quartet so far this season and the fourth-fastest in the CCAA.
Bailey finished first in the Sacramento State Invitational's 400-meter dash, logging a time of 57.84 seconds. Bailey notched a personal best time (24.97 seconds) and a second place finish in the 200-meter dash, and combined with Taylor, Kaitlyn Gonzales, and Danielle Bacon to take top honors in the 4x400-meter relays with a time of 3:59.38.
Taylor scored a pair of personal best performances Saturday, timing out at 1:03.85 on the way to a first place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, and her PR time of 15.48 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles was good for 10th place overall.
Elise Barnum won the Sac State Invite's pole vault competition with a personal best height of 3.53 meters. Marissa D'Atri brought home top honors in the 1,500-meter run with a winning time of 4:51.65 seconds.
Natalie Muse registered a personal best leap of 10.76 meters en route to a fourth place finish in the triple jump. Gonzales placed third in the 400-meter dash with a personal best time of 1:00.12 in the 400-meter dash; Alexis Hinojosa landed a PR time of 1:10.05 and a fourth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, and Blair stopped the clock with a personal best times in both the 100-meter dash (12.50 seconds, sixth place finish) and 200-meter dash (26.20 seconds, fifth place overall).
Top Wildcat finishers in various events included:
-- Natalie Dinin (third place in the 800-meter run, 2:23.39)
-- Alana Ochoa (sixth place in the discus, 38.39 meters)
-- Citlalli Fernandez (seventh place in the hammer, season-best 44.38 meters)
-- Ava Cavallaro (seventh place in the shot put, 11.46 meters)
-- Alexis Hinojosa (eighth place in the 100-meter hurdles, 15.07 seconds)
-- Samantha Brackett (12th place in the triple jump, 4.70 meters)
Fernandez turned in a season-best mark of 31.59 meters while finishing 10th in the discus. On the oval, Selina Schillig and Alyssa Evans locked in season-best efforts in the 100-meter hurdles—Schillig finished 11th at 16.01 seconds, while Evans (17.87 seconds) placed 15th.
Next week, members of the Chico State women's track & field team will be in Southern California competing in a trio of meets. The Wildcats will take part Wednesday through Saturday at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa Wednesday through Friday, and the Long Beach Invitational Friday and Saturday.
