University of North Texas Athletics
Friday, November 11
Bryan-College Station, Texas
TBA
University of North Texas
vs
NCAA South Central Regional
Cross Country: Neiva Places 10th, Just Misses Nationals
11/11/2022 1:45:00 PM | Cross Country
Neiva earns all-region honors for second consecutive year
DENTON, Texas – Victor Neiva finished 10th to garner all-region accolades for the second consecutive year and lead North Texas cross country Friday at the NCAA South Central Regional Championship at the Watts Cross Country Course in Bryan-College Station.
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"Victor did everything he needed to do," North Texas cross country coach Erik Stevens said. "We talked about the race going into it, trying to make sure we're in the top 20 to 25 at all times for the first 5K and then it'll probably start breaking up, and it absolutely did. He stayed very engaged in it. It's a personal best, all-region, and one spot out of the national bid. He ran a heck of a race, and I think it's a big step for him. That's the type of stuff that will fuel him going into the indoor season. He's got something special in there."
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Neiva, a junior from Keller, Texas, finished one spot out of a trip to Nationals with a career-best 10K time of 30:51.4 to place 10th and secure his all-region award. Cade McAndrew followed in 93rd with a time of 33:45.4, Luke Canon placed 108th with a time of 33:56.2, Jesus Escamilla-Camargo finished 132nd with a time of 34:53.4, Nick Rodriguez took 142nd with a time of 35:19.7, and Spencer Boykin placed 148th with a time of 35:49.4.
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"They all executed the front half of the race exactly how I wanted it to be," Stevens said. "I told them 10,000 meters is a different beast, and they saw it almost immediately. They did a good job. They couldn't quite get moving as quickly as we wanted to over the back half, but they still fought. It's a good benchmark to see where we're at for the indoor season. A lot of these guys are more of the 800-meter, 1,500-meter types, so for them to do what they did over 10K and execute the way that we really wanted them to, I was pretty happy with the overall result."
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On the women's side, Miranda Vreeland led the way once again with a personal-best 6K time of 22:58.0 to finish 99th. Tiblets Abreha placed 138th with a time of 23:42.5, followed by Kate Hilty in 160th at 25:00.9, Shannon Cook in 167th at 25:31.7, Tori Tauch in 168th at 25:38.3, and Amy Pritchard in 170th at 25:58.5.
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"Every single runner on the women's team PB'd, so in that capacity you can't be anything but happy," Stevens said. "It means that they put everything out there that they had. There are a lot of other really good teams in the region. I thought we had a really good closer to be able to come through and everybody have that type of race in the very last race of the year. I can't ask for any more. Moving forward, if we can just get that consistency now that I have one season under my belt as their coach and they're getting a little bit more used to what we're doing as a program, I think we'll see some pretty big improvements."
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With the cross country season complete, the Mean Green now turn their focus to the indoor track & field season, which begins Jan. 13-14 at the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
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Be sure to keep an eye on MeanGreenSports.com, follow Mean Green Sports on social media @MeanGreenSports and Mean Green track & field/cross country at @MeanGreenTFXC for all of the latest information.
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"Victor did everything he needed to do," North Texas cross country coach Erik Stevens said. "We talked about the race going into it, trying to make sure we're in the top 20 to 25 at all times for the first 5K and then it'll probably start breaking up, and it absolutely did. He stayed very engaged in it. It's a personal best, all-region, and one spot out of the national bid. He ran a heck of a race, and I think it's a big step for him. That's the type of stuff that will fuel him going into the indoor season. He's got something special in there."
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Neiva, a junior from Keller, Texas, finished one spot out of a trip to Nationals with a career-best 10K time of 30:51.4 to place 10th and secure his all-region award. Cade McAndrew followed in 93rd with a time of 33:45.4, Luke Canon placed 108th with a time of 33:56.2, Jesus Escamilla-Camargo finished 132nd with a time of 34:53.4, Nick Rodriguez took 142nd with a time of 35:19.7, and Spencer Boykin placed 148th with a time of 35:49.4.
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"They all executed the front half of the race exactly how I wanted it to be," Stevens said. "I told them 10,000 meters is a different beast, and they saw it almost immediately. They did a good job. They couldn't quite get moving as quickly as we wanted to over the back half, but they still fought. It's a good benchmark to see where we're at for the indoor season. A lot of these guys are more of the 800-meter, 1,500-meter types, so for them to do what they did over 10K and execute the way that we really wanted them to, I was pretty happy with the overall result."
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On the women's side, Miranda Vreeland led the way once again with a personal-best 6K time of 22:58.0 to finish 99th. Tiblets Abreha placed 138th with a time of 23:42.5, followed by Kate Hilty in 160th at 25:00.9, Shannon Cook in 167th at 25:31.7, Tori Tauch in 168th at 25:38.3, and Amy Pritchard in 170th at 25:58.5.
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"Every single runner on the women's team PB'd, so in that capacity you can't be anything but happy," Stevens said. "It means that they put everything out there that they had. There are a lot of other really good teams in the region. I thought we had a really good closer to be able to come through and everybody have that type of race in the very last race of the year. I can't ask for any more. Moving forward, if we can just get that consistency now that I have one season under my belt as their coach and they're getting a little bit more used to what we're doing as a program, I think we'll see some pretty big improvements."
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With the cross country season complete, the Mean Green now turn their focus to the indoor track & field season, which begins Jan. 13-14 at the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
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Be sure to keep an eye on MeanGreenSports.com, follow Mean Green Sports on social media @MeanGreenSports and Mean Green track & field/cross country at @MeanGreenTFXC for all of the latest information.
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