SAN MARCOS—With a quartet of exciting (and excited) freshmen set to make their Chico State debuts, Saturday's season-opening race offered the Wildcats' women's cross country team its first real measuring stick for the 2022 season. Those freshmen—and as a result, the Chico State team—measured up quite nicely. Spurred by the top-10 debuts of Hannah Tiffany, Della Molina, and Iresh Molina, the Wildcats placed second in the 17-team field at the Cougar Challenge in San Marcos.
 
Chico State, which entered the season ranked No. 17 in the nation and No. 3 in the West Region, finished with 47 points. Twelfth-ranked Stanislaus State won the race with 28 points. Azusa Pacific placed third with 67.
 
Tiffany, who missed her true freshman campaign due to COVID and redshirted last season, put herself among the race leaders right from the start and finished in fifth place with a time of 21:22.5 over the six-kilometer course. The Molinas, meanwhile, started more conservatively and raced between 20^th and 30^th place at the first split. The true freshmen twins from Chico High School moved up into the top 12 during the second 2K, and then finished strong. Della placed seventh with a time of 21:32.2, while Iresh was 8^th in 21:33.3.
 
While those three provided the big stories for the Wildcats, their veteran teammates that followed figure to factor into a bright future for the team as well. Returning All-CCAA performers Hannah Ryan, Marissa D'Atri, and Gracie Dupuis placed 13^th, 14^th, and 28^th at the beginning of their ramp-up toward the postseason. Sophomores Jaclyn Denham and Sophie Pelletier placed 18^th and 30^th, respectively. And true freshman Jasmine Fletcher was the ninth Chico State finisher in 36^th place. Senior Avery Lambrite gave the Wildcats 10 among the top 44 finishers.
 
The depth displayed by the Wildcats is one of the many things that points to a successful season. Chico State's top nine runners all outpaced every other team's sixth finisher.
 
The Wildcats will continue to hone their craft over the next three weeks before getting back into action at the Bronco Invitational on October 15. That will begin a stretch of three races in four weeks, culminating at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships. The NCAA Regional and National Championships follow after that.
 
Do they have enough in the tank to catch the Warriors, who ended the Wildcats' 12-year run atop the CCAA Championship podium? It sure looks like it's going to be exciting to find out.  
 
Team Results – 2022 Cougar Challenge
  1. Stanislaus State – 28
  2. Chico State – 47
  3. Azusa Pacific – 67
  4. Pomona-Pitzer – 123
  5. Cal State San Marcos – 174
  6. Cal Poly Pomona – 195
  7. Westmont – 195
  8. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) – 210
  9. Caltech – 267
10. Point Loma – 291
11. Cal State San Bernardino – 310
12. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps – 321
13. Concordia University – 324
14. Chapman – 327
15. Hawaii Pacific – 454
16. La Verne – 526
17. Cal State LA – 529
 
Top 10 and Chico State Individuals
    1. Kaela Dishion (Stan. St.) – 20:48.3
    2. Najwa Chouati (Stan. St.) – 21:08.7
    3. Kayden Legan (Stan. St.) – 21:14.0
    4. Eline Pinter (APU) – 21:18.0
    5. Hannah Tiffany – 21:22.5
    6. Justine Stecko (APU) – 21:28.7
    7. Della Molina – 21:32.2
    8. Iresh Molina – 21:33.3
    9. Genevieve DiBari (P. Pitzer) – 21:34.5
  10. Yaharia Zuniga (Stan. St.) – 21:42.2
  13. Hannah Ryan – 21:49.9
  14. Marissa D'Atri – 21:51.0
  18. Jaclyn Denham – 22:02.2
  28. Gracie Dupuis – 22:23.0
  30. Sophie Pelletier – 22:26.1
  36. Jasmine Fletcher – 22:44.0
  43. Avery Lambrite – 22:50.9
  57. Katie Hawley – 23:10.6
  63. Esmeralda Aguayo Ruiz – 23:17.5
  69. Jacqueline Cascione – 23:24.4
  87. Hannah Wirth – 23:44.9
102. Jennifer Ruiz – 24:19.2
109. Paulina Guerrero – 24:30.8