FREMONT – A majority of the 2023 Chico State men's cross country team were not even born yet when the Wildcats began their impressive streak of winning CCAA Championships many years ago. That was reminded by the master of ceremonies at Quarry Lakes Regional in Fremont when the Wildcats were presented their unprecedented 21^st consecutive conference championship Saturday.
 
For longtime head coach Gary Towne, who has been a key figure to this incredible run, he certainly hit blackjack with this Wildcats team on October 21. Chico State scored 18 combined points in the 8K run, just three shy from reaching the possible minimum mark. Towne also saw senior Dylan White become the first of four straight Wildcats to cross the finish line to sweep the podium and take the majority of the top five.

White becomes the third different Wildcat to take first at a meet this season. Giannini won the first race in Oregon and then Daniel Hernandez took the next two victories in San Marcos and San Francisco.
 
The top four Wildcat finishers were only seven seconds apart from each other. White ran a time of 24:41.9 to win his first individual gold medal, Mario Giannini, who was awarded the conference's newcomer of the year, ran a 24:46.6, Daniel Hernandez was just over a second behind Giannini and Brayden McLaughlin played the sweeper role at 24:48.9. The fifth-place finisher, Daniel Echeveste, crossed the finish line at 24:54.2.
 
Speaking of the Broncos, they took second place in the team standings with 41 points, proving just how dominant the 'Cats were in the conference meet.
 
Hunter Dougherty also posted a top 10 finish, running a 25:08.8 to leap six spots into eighth place.
 
Joshua O'Neill finished 13^th with a time of 25:21.1, Matthew Gordon (25:33.8) and Anders Beil (25:38.0) took 17^th and 18^th, respectively, Jesus Villarreal (25:43.8) clinched 20^th place, and Damian Garcia ran a 26:06.3 to place 28^th.
 
After successfully defending the CCAA title, the Wildcats will now defend the NCAA West Regional championship for the sixth consecutive time. They will return to where their season began at Western Oregon's Ash Creek Collegiate on November 4.