Chico State Athletics

On paper the 2007 recruiting class for the Wildcat women was the best in the school’s history.  Near the top of the list of signees was Kara Lubieniecki a standout prep runner from Bear Creek High in Lakewood, Colo.  Since her arrival on the Chico campus Lubieniecki and her peers have lived up to their billing.  Kara ran among the top of the ‘Cats most of her frosh XC season and was a scorer on the women’s surprising 4th place NCAA finish in ’07.  On the oval Lubieniecki recorded times that were as fast any Chico State freshman had before her including a 17:52 5k and NCAA provisional marks for the 1500 and 3000m distances. 

Kara’s sophomore year brought success on a much larger scale as she finished the cross country season with All-CCAA and All-West region honors (5th/14th overall at each).  Kara was the ‘Cats No. 2 finisher at the NCAA championships but finished just shy of the final All-American spot.   Kara kept this momentum rolling into and through the spring, chopping off nine seconds from her 1500m PR, and 52 seconds off her previous 5k mark. At the CCAA championships Kara recorded 3rd and 2nd place finishes in the 1500 and 5k runs respectively, earning All-CCAA honors in both.  A week later Lubieniecki would double 4:34, 17:00 for the same distances at the Oxy Invitational hitting NCAA standards in both.  Unfortunately Kara’s maiden NCAA track experience was a bit rough as she failed to advance to the 5k final. 
Having placed herself among the top 5 all time for CSUC in the 1500m and 5k events, and with two full years of eligibility remaining, Kara appears ready to tackle some big goals in the upcoming years. 

Track Best Marks:
1500m: 4:34
3,000m: 10:11
5,000m: 17:00