Men's Cross Country | November 05, 2024

AIKEN, S.C. – The USCA men's cross country team is set for the upcoming NCAA Region Championship, which is slated to take place Saturday.

Head coach Marshall Leonard's team is coming off a sixth-place effort at the PBC Championships on Oct. 26.

"We are excited about the upcoming NCAA Regionals, as we are coming off the best practice of the year," Leonard said. "On Monday evening they ran times that showed me that they are focused and ready to have a record-breaking team performance. They are locked in and excited to end the season on a high note. 

"What is unique about this race is that only one student-athlete on the team has raced this distance and that is the current record holder Riley Campbell," Leonard stated. "We race 8K's all season, and the NCAA is a 10K, which means we will have to use a different race strategy.  The student-athletes are prepared as they can be."

The Pacers' school-record holder in the 10k, Riley Campbell, will be competing in his last region event. A season ago, Campbell crossed the finish line in a time of 35:26.6.

Jacobo Garcia-Rivera led the team at the PBC Championships with a time of 27:34.6, which was good enough for 28^th place.

Zachary Haase and Evan McLeod were not far apart. Haase crossed in 28:25.5 while McLeod registered a time of 28:42.9.

Jase Wilson notched a time of 29:20.0 in his first postseason race while Campbell and Julio Rojas tallied marks of 29:41.5 and 29:58.8, respectively.

This season, Luis Cruzado has a pair of school records to his name, including the 8k mark of 26:31.1.

USCA is looking to improve upon its 28^th-place effort last season at the NCAA Regional in Spartanburg, S.C.