Chico State Athletics

2019–20
Earned All-CCAA cross country honors in 2019…Opened the season with an eighth place finish (8k time of 25:25.5) September 13 at the Stump Invitational…Notched an 8k PR time of 24:44.9 and a 28th place finish September 28, 2019 at the Capital Cross Challenge…Placed 24th with a personal best 10k time of 32:50 October 12, 2019 at the Western Washington Classic…Came in 13th at the October 26, 2019 CCAA Championships (18k time of 25:18.5) to help the Wildcats win the program’s 18th consecutive cross country title…Competed in the November 9 NCAA West Regional, but did not finish…Did not compete in the shortened 2020 track & field season.  
 
2018–19
Red Shirted both cross country and track…Placed 41st at the Capital Cross Challenge with a 25:11 debut in the 8k event…Finished 61st in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Open race…Concluded the fall with a fifth place showing at the Doc Adams Invitational, posting a 25:00 PR…On the track, Lopez opended the spring with a 5k time of 14:51 at the Hornet Invitational…The Fanelli Track Classic brought a 15:19 setback, but during the Mt. SAC meet recorded his second-fastest 10k to date (30:25)…Two days later at the Beach Invitational, he narrowly missed cracking the 4:00 mark for the 1,500 with a 4:00.08 finish…Wrapped up the spring posting a 5k time of 14:52 at the Oxy Invitational.
 
Pre-Chico Days
Developed into one of the better community college runners in the country during his sophomore year at Glendale Community College…After a stout regular season filled with invitational victories won the West Coast Conference cross country title…Followed up with a third place finish at the So Cal Championships…At the state championships earned All-America honors with a second place finish…Opened the 2018 track season with an impressive 14:27 PR for the 5k at the Oxy Invitational…Posted a national JC-leading (and long-standing school record) PR time of 29:55 in the 10k at the San Francisco Distance Carnival…Won the Western Conference championship in both the 5k and 10k…Finished second at the SoCal Regional and State track championships in the 10k event…Earned back-to-back CCCAA All-American Cross Country and 10k honors…Lettered in cross country and track at John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills…Won the Valley Mission League XC championship and the league’s 1,600m crown in 2015.
 
Personal
Born May 3, 1998, in Pacoima…Son of Martin Lopez and Rocio De La Torre…Has three siblings: Enrique, Nathaniel, and Ethan…The person he most admires in the sports world is Billy Mills (“He was the last American to have won the 10,000 meters at the 1964 Olympics”)…Favorite course at Chico State is Catastrophes in Human History, taught by Laird Easton…Chose to attend Chico State “because of the successful cross country and track program”…His greatest sports moment was breaking his junior college’s 20-year old 10k record…The most interesting thing he’s ever done is run two marathons…The most impressive thing he’s ever accomplished is recording a sub-30 minute time in the 10k…Has learned by running cross country that “failure will always lead to growth”…Enjoys traveling when he has some free time…Has a talent for memorizing movie trivia…At the top of his bucket list: “To visit Europe”…Best advice ever received: “Trust the process, and always have fun with it”…Majoring in criminal justice…Would like to attempt to continue running following college, then pursue a career in law enforcement and end up working for a government agent.
 
Personal Best Marks
8k XC: 24:44
10k XC: 32:50
1,500m: 4:00
5,000m: 14:27
10,000m: 29:55