JOPLIN, Missouri - In their 24th consecutive NCAA DII National Championship appearance, the Chico State men's cross country team finishes in 9th in their 23rd national appearance in the last twenty-four years. The 2023 CCAA Conference and West Regional Champions leaped over fellow West-region opponents Azusa Pacific for the best finish from the region.
This year's race showed a flurry of stronger teams and athletes from years prior, showcasing a winning time of 29:04, which was 54 seconds faster than last year's winning finish.
Brayden Mclaughlin led the Wildcats as the sole All-American finisher from this year's Chico State squad with a 27th place finish, clocking a new 10K personal best of 30:06. He spent a majority of the race in the mid-50s, climbing during the second half of the race for an All-American finish.
McLaughlin was part of a strong group of Wildcats consisting of himself, Daniel Hernandez, Dylan White, and Mario Giannini, who all sat in the 50s for most of the race.
Freshman teammate Mario Giannini, in his first national meet, finished 48th and second for the Cats' with a new personal best of 30:28. Giannini, in his first season with Chico State, has shown outstanding growth and success in his first series of races.
Daniel Hernandez was the third Wildcat to cross the finish line in 51st with a time of 30:31.8, earning himself a new personal best in his second career NCAA DII Championship race. He improved his time from last year's race by 45 seconds, finishing 49 spots better than last year.
Matthew Gordon nearly earned a new PR in his 98th place finish on Saturday, recording a 31:10, which is only two seconds slower than his 10K best time, which he recorded at West Regionals. Gordon climbed 14 spots in the second half of the race, tracking down runners to finish in the top 100 runners in NCAA DII.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wildcats was Joshua O'Neill, who finished in 134th with a time of 31:32.5 in Joplin on Saturday.
Dylan White and Damian Garcia finished the individual results for Chico State with 164th and 184th place finishes, respectively.
This marks the completion of the 2023 NCAA DII Cross-Country season, and these Wildcats have added more hardware to the trophy cabinet throughout the season with five meet wins and finishing as the 9th-best team in DII.
