Veronica Graves is in her second year as head coach of the Chico State women’s track & field team, and in just one season at the helm, the longtime coach and former Wildcat athlete has already realized her goal of keeping the program among the best in the West.
Graves has made good her pledge of keeping the program’s standards at a very high level, as Chico State women’s track & field remains a major player on both the regional and national stage.
Under Graves’ tutelage, the Chico State women turned in an outstanding 2023 season. The Wildcats posted a strong second place finish at the CCAA Track & Field Championships while earning the No. 4 spot in the year’s West Region rankings. Marissa D’Atri (5,000-meter run), Chloe Taylor (400-meters hurdles), and the 4x400-meter relay team of Taylor, Savannah Bailey, Taylor Lee, and Danielle Bacon all set new program records, with D’Atri, Taylor, and Josie Peterson (javelin) all claiming CCAA championships. The ’Cats sent six athletes to the 2023 NCAA Track & Field Championships in Pueblo, Colorado, with D’Atri and the 4x400-meter relay team bringing home Second Team All-America accolades.
Graves ascended to the ’Cats’ head coaching job after serving for four seasons as a Wildcats assistant, training and mentoring decathletes, heptathletes, and hurdlers for the both men’s and women’s track & field teams.
Joining the Wildcats coaching staff in 2018, Graves helped guide numerous Chico State athletes to All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) performances, conference individual championships, and All-West Region honors. Graves was a key part of the Chico State coaching staff that steered the men’s track & field team to the 2019 CCAA Championship.
Graves brought a wealth of head coaching experience to the Wildcats’ program. She served as the head men’s and women’s track & field head coach from 2014–18 at William Jessup University in Rocklin, where her athletes racked up 12 Golden State Athletic Conference champions and 20 all-conference honors.
From 2013–14, Graves led the women’s track & field and cross country programs at Feather River College in Quincy.
Graves actually broke into the coaching ranks as a Wildcats assistant from 2002–04, following an impressive running career at Chico State. For ten years she held the school record in the 400-meter hurdles (and still ranks eighth all-time in the program’s history), and was a National Qualifier in both the 400 hurdles and the 1,600-meter relay.
Graves began her collegiate career at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon.
Graves received her bachelor’s degree in physical education at Chico State in 2002, as well as her master’s degree in kinesiology in 2011.
After spending 2021-22 as the interim head coach of the women's track and field program, John Brunk, returns to his lead assistant role for the program in 2022-23.
Brunk’s season at the helm was a successful one, as he led the Chico State women’s team to a second place finish in the 2022 CCAA Track & Field Championships and a No. 6 West Region ranking. Under Brunk’s tutelage, the Wildcat women racked up 16 All-CCAA performances at the conference meet, and during the season was instrumental in helping Amy Bell and Cristian Brady set new Chico State records in the pole vault.
Brunk, one of the Chico State’s most successful track & field athletes of the last decade-plus, was named interim head coach of the Wildcat women’s track & field program on October 11, 2021. Prior to the appointment, he served as an integral part of the Chico State track & field coaching staff since 2015, working closely with the men’s and women’s high jumpers
, pole vaulters and multi-event athletes while handling administration duties for both the men’s and women’s programs. He now returns to that position.
As an assistant under men’s head coach Oliver Hanf, Brunk helped guide the Chico State men’s track & field program to four California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) titles and a pair of national top 10 rankings. For his efforts, Brunk was named NCAA Division II West Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year in 2017 by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Working in tandem with women’s track & field head coach Robert Nooney during that same time period, Brunk was instrumental in the Wildcat women’s team capturing three CCAA championships and a No. 7 national ranking in 2017.
Brunk’s many competitive achievements while a student at Chico State make him one of the most decorated track & field athletes in Wildcats history. Between 2011 and 2014, the Central California product earned two All-America honors, seven All-CCAA awards, and was named All-West Region seven times by the USTFCCCA. He was also named Chico State’s Bud Hanna Male Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2014.
Brunk’s success helped the ’Cats win four CCAA conference championships and post four national Top 25 finishes.
Brunk’s first All-America came in 2012, when he finished fourth in the nation in the decathlon. As a senior, Brunk scored his second decathlon All-America honor, was named USTFCCCA All-West Region in the decathlon, 400-meter dash, 4x100m and 4x400m relays, and earned All-CCAA accolades with first place finishes in the 400m and 4x100m, as well as a second place showing in the 4x400m during the 2014 conference meet.
As a result, Brunk is a prominent name in the Chico State record books. He ranks fifth
all-time in the decathlon (7,351 points) and fourth in the 400-meter dash (47.66 seconds). He also teamed with J Patrick Smith, Teddy Elsenbaumer and Nick Sloggy to post the third-fastest 4x400m relay time (3:11.62) in Wildcats history.
Before attending Chico State, Brunk was a multi-sport star at Oakdale High School, lettering in track & field, basketball, and soccer.
Brunk received a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology/Movement Studies and Coaching Administration from Chico State in 2013. He earned his master’s degree at Chico State in Kinesiology/Coaching Administration in 2015.
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Gary Towne
Head Distance Coach
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Gary Towne is in his 28th year as Chico State men’s and women’s cross country head coach, as well as serving as the distance coach for the Wildcats’ track & field teams. His success spanning parts of four decades speaks for itself—Towne has developed one of the top men’s and women’s cross country programs in the United States, coaching 306 All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) runners, 217 All-Region runners and 74 All-Americans.
All told, 43 of Towne’s Chico State cross country teams have finished in the top 10 nationally (18 of his women’s teams and 25 men’s teams) and boast 36 CCAA conference titles. Towne himself has been named the conference’s Cross Country Coach of the Year 34 times, and West Region Coach of the Year 24 times by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Towne has also been a huge asset to the fortunes of the Chico State men’s and women’s track teams, coaching 103 All-America distance runners over the past 26 seasons, including national champions Scott Bauhs (10k in 2007, 5k in 2008), Charlie Serrano (5k, 2007) and Sarah Montez (3k, 2008). Towne has helped the Wildcats win 25 CCAA team track & field championships and rack up eight national top 10 finishes. He has received six USTFCCCA West Region Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year awards (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2018), and earned National Assistant Track & Field Coach of the Year honors in 2008 and 2009.
The 2022 season extended Towne’s legacy and Chico State’s cross country success. The Wildcat men won their 20th straight CCAA championship, stretching the program’s conference record for consecutive titles, regardless of sport. That was followed by a victory in the NCAA West Regional (the ’Cats’ sixth in a row and 17th regional win since 2002), and a fifth place effort at the NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championships in Seattle, Washington, with Rory Abberton bringing home All-America honors. Abberton was named the CCAA Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, while Towne earned his 14th consecutive CCAA Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year award and USTFCCCA Men’s Coach of the Year for the sixth straight season.
The Chico State women finished second in the 2022 CCAA Cross Country Championships and second at the NCAA West Regional (the program’s 15th consecutive top three regional finish and 21st in the last 22 seasons), resulting in the Wildcats reaching the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the 22nd straight season, where they finished 12th in the nation. Marissa D’Atri finished 14th overall to earn All-America honors for the ’Cats.
Towne took over Chico State’s cross country program in the fall of 1996, and in ’97 the women’s squad qualified for its first trip to the NCAA Championships. Before the men’s team’s No. 6 ranking in 1999, only one Wildcat cross country squad had qualified for national competition in the previous 30 years. Both men’s and women’s teams have gone on to qualify for the NCAA Championships every year since 1999.
While getting the most out of his athletes on the track and on the trails, Towne stresses academic success and is proud of the fact that nearly 100 percent of his student-athletes have graduated from college and moved on to become successful in the working world. Another aspect of the Chico State cross country program Towne is particularly proud of is the team’s family atmosphere.
“Once a part of the Wildcat family, you’re a part forever,” he says.
It’s not uncommon to see dozens of Wildcat alumni make trips across the country to cheer on the current teams in competition. In fact, nearly 500 Chico State alumni and fans made the trek to Sacramento to cheer on the Wildcats at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Towne received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Chico State in 1991. He earned a master’s in physical education from Chico State in 1996.
Towne is married to Roxanne, a probation officer for Butte County.
