CHICO, Calif. — Chico State cross country returns to competition Friday morning, opening the 2026 season at the Saint Mary's Invitational at Newhall Community Park in Concord with two teams carrying high expectations into the fall.
The men's 8-kilometer race will begin at 8:45 a.m., followed by the women's 6K at 9:30. Chico State will send 49 athletes to the opener, 23 men and 27 women, giving the Wildcats an early opportunity to test their depth against a 15-team collegiate field made up largely of NCAA Division I programs.
California, UCLA, UC San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose State, San Diego State, Santa Clara, Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount, Nevada, Pacific and Seattle U. are all entered. Cal State East Bay and Dominican join Chico State as the three Division II programs in the field.
The opener begins a season in which both Chico State teams again find themselves among the programs to beat in the West. The Wildcats occupy the No. 1 spot in both USTFCCCA West Region preseason rankings, while both also open the year among the nation's best. The men are ranked No. 7 nationally, while the women enter at No. 6 in the nation.
Women Bring Back Experience, and More Depth
The women return nearly the entire scoring group from last year's eighth-place NCAA team.
Megan Malloy,
Paulina Martins,
Sienna Bianchi and
Kira Forsberg occupied four of Chico State's five scoring positions at the national championships, with only three-time All-American
Iresh Molina no longer in the lineup after exhausting her four seasons of cross country eligibility.
Chico State's answer to losing Iresh Molina is a familiar one. Her twin sister,
Della Molina, returns to the cross country course after sitting out the 2025 season, giving the Wildcats another proven national-level performer at the front of the lineup. Della was an All-American in both 2023 and 2024, won the 2024 CCAA individual championship, and returned to form during the 2026 track season as one of Division II's top distance runners.
The spring provided perhaps the clearest indication yet of the group's ceiling, as several Wildcats broke through to become national-level performers. Chico State finished the outdoor track season with the nation's No. 1-ranked Division II event squads in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings, and much of that firepower returns this fall.
Della Molina ran 16:16.87 for 5,000 meters and 34:06.18 for 10,000; Malloy posted bests of 16:48.76 and 34:34.54; Martins ran 16:26.19 and 34:55.41 during a standout freshman season; and Forsberg added bests of 16:52.35 in the 5,000 and 35:17.00 in the 10,000.
That strength was on full display at the CCAA Championships, where Chico State swept the first five places in the 5,000 and put eight runners inside the top ten. The Wildcats were similarly dominant in the 10,000, sweeping the top four places.
The group carried that success onto the national stage, where Della and Malloy earned All-America honors in the 10,000 before Della and Martins did the same in the 5,000 two days later. Martins' 16:26.19 was also the fastest regular-season 5,000-meter mark by a Division II freshman.
Several others enter the fall after making major strides of their own.
Olivia Beschorner emerged as one of the West's top steeplechasers, running 10:38 and finishing second at the CCAA Championships, while Bianchi lowered her 1,500-meter best to 4:26.83 and qualified for her first NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Catherine McGuire and
Isabel Rosales also carry momentum into the fall after breakthrough track seasons, with McGuire cutting nearly 10 seconds from her 1,500 best to 4:34.81 and Rosales dropping nearly a minute from her 5,000 best to 17:03. Both followed those performances with a strong summer of training, giving Chico State two more athletes capable of making an impact late in the season.
The talent extends throughout the roster.
April Anguiano,
Kaya Scuba and
Zoe Aitken all enter the fall with strong collegiate résumés, including marks of 17:30 in the 5,000, 4:31.95 in the 1,500 and 10:58.46 in the steeplechase, respectively. Fresno Pacific transfer
Mattie Whipple adds 2:10.58 speed in the 800 and a 4:33.37 best in the 1,500, while freshman
Maya Schiro joins the group after running 17:36 at Woodward Park during her final high school cross country season. Together, they give the Wildcats a roster with quality extending well beyond the front of the lineup and plenty of options as the season progresses.
Men Return Proven Front End, Growing Depth
The championship streaks on the men's side stretch considerably further. Chico State enters the season having won 23 consecutive CCAA Championships and every contested conference title since 2002, while also capturing 20 of the past 23 NCAA West Region titles.
Neither streak came easily last season. Cal Poly Pomona pushed Chico State to a 30-36 decision at the CCAA Championships, the closest margin during the Wildcats' 23-title run and the tightest CCAA men's team race in 34 years. Chico State responded two weeks later by scoring 75 points at the West Regional, holding off Western Washington and Cal Poly Pomona before closing the season with a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Five of the seven Wildcats who raced at last year's NCAA Championships return, giving Chico State considerable postseason experience.
Mario Giannini,
Matthew Gordon and
Damian Garcia have each already established themselves among the West Region's top runners.
Sergio Cuartas III returns after earning his first All-CCAA cross country honor, and
Jackson Stream comes back from a freshman season that included CCAA Freshman of the Year honors and scoring performances at both the West Regional and NCAA Championships.
Garcia will not race Friday, as Chico State gives the defending West Region champion additional recovery time following a track season that stretched well beyond the collegiate calendar. After winning the regional cross country title last November, Garcia produced one of the finest middle-distance seasons in program history. Garcia swept the CCAA 800 and 1,500 meter titles, setting school records in both events and running 3:35.61 in the 1,500, the fastest Division II mark of the season and second-fastest in NCAA Division II history. He finished fifth at the NCAA Championships before extending his season into late July at the U.S. Outdoor Championships. Garcia has also proven himself over the longer cross country distances, owning bests of 23:23.3 for 8K and 29:26.4 for 10K, the latter coming in his West Region victory last fall.
Even without Garcia in the opener, the Wildcats will have plenty of proven talent at the front. Giannini brings one of the strongest cross country resumes in the West, having won the 2024 West Region championship, back-to-back CCAA individual titles and All-America honors with a 28th-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships. He owns an 8K best of 23:28.9 and added another All-America honor on the track last spring, running 14:05.34 for 5,000 meters and 29:04.56 for 10,000 before placing sixth in the NCAA 10,000.
Gordon brings similar postseason experience, having earned All-West Region honors in each of the past three cross country seasons. His best national finish came in 2024, when he placed 42nd, just two spots shy of All-America honors, and he owns an 8K best of 23:49.8. On the track last spring, Gordon lowered his 5,000 meter best to 14:23.94 and earned All-CCAA honors with a third-place finish in the event.
The returning strength extends well beyond the aforementioned group.
Alex Lamoureux produced one of the biggest breakthroughs of the spring, lowering his 1,500 meter best to 3:45.86 and finishing the year ranked No. 2 in the West Region, earning All-Region honors.
Sean Alliegro made an even more dramatic jump at the longer distances, cutting his 5,000 meter best from 15:08.15 in 2025 to 14:21.49 last spring while also running 30:06.98 for 10,000 meters and earning All-CCAA honors in the event. Sergio Cuartas added bests of 14:26.79 in the 5,000 and 30:26.13 in the 10,000, finishing runner-up in the 10,000 at the CCAA Championships, and already owns a 23:57.6 8K best in cross country.
The collective strength of this group was on display at the CCAA Track & Field Championships. Chico State placed six runners among the top eight in the men's 5,000, led by Giannini's victory, and put three runners among the top four in the 10,000. The Wildcats scored 48 points from those two events alone as part of their second consecutive CCAA team championship.
Another group of returners carries plenty of momentum into the fall.
Xander Schulte-Sasse returned late in an injury-interrupted track season to run 14:44.50 for 5,000 meters, while
Adrian Hipolito lowered his steeplechase best to 9:02.95 and narrowly missed a berth to the NCAA Championships.
Michael Torres continued to progress with personal bests of 3:54.95 in the 1,500 and 14:41.88 in the 5,000, while
Devin Pereira brings a 24:26 8K best along with track marks of 3:54.33 and 14:39.84. All four followed the spring with strong summers, giving Chico State another wave of returners capable of making a meaningful impact as the season moves toward the postseason.
The Wildcats will also look to a talented newcomer group to add another layer this fall.
Alijah Murillo arrives with one of the strongest high school cross country resumes in program history, running 14:49 at Woodward Park before earning an individual berth to Nike Cross Nationals, where he finished 44th.
Peter Kendall brings similar upside after running 4:08.86 for 1,600 meters and 8:58.16 for 3,200 meters while placing sixth at the CIF State Cross Country Championships.
Stephan Chapdelaine adds collegiate experience as a two-time junior college All-American, a two-time Northern California 10,000-meter champion and a 24:37.6 8K performer. All three enter the fall with an opportunity to make an immediate impact for a deep Chico State group.
Looking Ahead
For both Chico State teams, Saint Mary's represents a starting point for the 2026 season. Following Friday's opener, the Wildcats are scheduled to race at the SF State Invitational, Dellinger Invitational, and Santa Clara's Bronco Invitational before the CCAA Championships Nov. 7 in San Bernardino. The NCAA West Regional will be held Nov. 21 at Sacramento's Arcade Creek Cross Country Course, with the NCAA Division II Championships following Dec. 4 at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kansas.
Friday's deep field in Concord should offer an early indication of how the pieces fit together. Most of last year's national championship groups return, joined by veterans coming off breakthrough springs and summers and a talented group of newcomers. The opener will provide the first look at how that combination comes together as Chico State begins another season with championship aspirations.
