CHICO, Calif. - In her first race of the 2026 track & field season, Iresh Molina led the way for her teammates and ran her way to an NCAA DII Provisional Mark. This earned her this week's CCAA/FloCollege Women's Track Athlete of the Week Award. 

Molina won the 5,000-meter run at the Johnny Mathis Invitational on Saturday in a time of 16:48.35, earning her a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division II Championships. Her seasonal best time is nearly five seconds quicker than the qualifying standard. 

The junior from Chico, Calif., has the fastest time in the nation with her teammates Megan Malloy, sister Della Molina, and Paulina Martins all in the top five in Division II. Iresh Molina, the 2025 CCAA Women's Cross Country champion, is the reigning CCAA Track & Field Championships gold medalist in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meter races.

This is Molina's first career CCAA Track Athlete of the Week award. She had been named the CCAA Cross Country Runner of the Week three times. Click here for a complete list of past CCAA Track & Field Athletes of the Week.

Chico State competes at the Cal Poly Humboldt Invitational next Saturday in Arcata.