The track and field women’s conference championship would be determined by one race: the 4×400 meter relay. Chico State held a slight lead over UCSD after dominating the 5,000-meter race — an event that reaffirmed Chico’s right grip on the conference, especially in the distance events. With the second-to-last running event out of the way, the host Tritons trailed by less than nine points. All they needed was to win the 4×4 — collecting all 10 points awarded to the winner — and hope that Chico State would come in eighth place, giving them a single point.
The entire Chico and UCSD squads gathered along the side of the track to cheer on their relay teams. The Triton team was stacked with some of the conference’s top talent: Sophomore Jaqueline Rose would run the first leg, followed by juniors Kelly Fogarty and Stephanie LeFever, and anchored by senior Christine Merrill. Chico’s team was not as impressive: two freshmen, and a season-best time nearly 10 seconds slower than that of UCSD.
The noise from both crowds grew louder in the final moments before the gun went off, each trying to outdo the other in volume. Finally, the starting official’s voice came through the loudspeaker:
“Runners, to your marks.”
The chants grew even louder as the runners took their final stretches and lowered themselves into the blocks.
“Set.”
Silence. The stadium held its breath as the starter raised the gun above his head.
Crack.
The runners exploded off the blocks with the sound of the gun, and the cheers re-emerged, loud as ever. Cal State Los Angeles jumped out to an early lead, but UCSD’s Rose kept it close, coming in just behind Cal State Los Angeles’ Brittany Manuel. Rose handed the baton to Fogarty, who was unable to close the gap for the first 200 meters of her leg of the race.
Fogarty had already won three conference championships on Saturday: she took both the 100- and 200-meter races, and ran on the victorious 4×100-meter relay team. While her achievements were undeniably impressive, questions began to crop up in the minds of the Triton squad. Does she have enough fuel left in the tank? She doesn’t normally run the 400 — can she run that far? Is this the end?
With about 150 meters left in her leg of the race, Fogarty answered those questions decisively. She suddenly exploded as if shot from a cannon, passing Cal State Los Angeles’ Moriah Jobrey like she was standing still and handing the baton to LeFever with the lead.
“I couldn’t get her on the inside of the track so I had to go around her,” Fogarty said. “At that point, I knew that if I went around her, I was going to have to kick it into gear.”
The Golden Eagles, however, would not give up so easily. LeFever lost the lead in the handoff and battled for the top spot throughout her 400-meter stretch. As a heptathlete, she was in her 12th event over a three-day stretch — an astounding feat. Nonetheless, LeFever showed both her versatility and endurance by handing the baton to Merrill only a step behind Cal State Los Angeles.
Merrill ran behind the Golden Eagles’ Jennifer Shoate for the first half of her leg, once again raising questions about the Tritons’ chances.
Similar to Fogarty, Merrill had already won four events that day, including a victory in the 400-meter race, where she recorded the second fastest time in school history. She was without doubt the best choice for the anchor leg, but how much did she have left in her?
Once again, all questions were answered. Merrill passed Shoate with just under 200 meters left in the race and never looked back. UCSD finished with a time of 3:45.27, a three-second improvement on its season best. Cal State Los Angeles finished three seconds back at 3:48.21.
When the race was over, however, the Tritons were not the ones celebrating. Chico’s relay team finished eight seconds back at 3:53.27 — almost an afterthought in such an exciting race — but it was good for fifth place, and four points in the overall standings.
Chico had won the CCAA women’s championship, ending UCSD’s bid for a sixth consecutive title. Yet the Triton relay team still stood triumphantly at the podium, receiving a loud ovation from their teammates, who had gathered at the edge of the track.
The Tritons may have just missed the cut, but they certainly made it exciting.
