Chico State Athletics

Without a doubt the surprise story of the 2007 cross country season for the Wildcats. Kayla Silva, who had never run a cross country race in her life previous to the season, finished as an All-American for the ‘Cats. With a good 800m PR to her credit (2:14) Silva decided to make the leap to become a harrier, not knowing what to expect or how it would turn out. Although her early results were fairly average (24th-Chico Invit, 34th-Bob Firman, and 100th-Stanford), Silva started to catch her stride just in time for the post season.  Her 14th place CCAA run earned her All-CCAA honors and a spot on the West Region team. At the regional Silva hit another big race, placing 17th and narrowly missing All-West Region honors. The NCAA championships brought her best performance of the season as the XC rookie surprised everyone including herself with her 35th place run in Missouri.  With a newfound sense of what was now possible, Silva eyed the track season ahead, knowing it held some big PRs.  This was indeed true as the one-time 800m specialist chopped 25 seconds off her previous 1,500m best while breaking Margaret Pridgen’s school record.  Silva also lowered her 800m PR, where she now ranks fifth all time in Chico State History.  With only a cross country season remaining Silva hopes to help another team to a Top-5 NCAA finish.  
 
Track Best Marks:
 
800m: 2:13
1,500m: 4:29
3,000m: 10:17