One Mile at a Time With Carlos Villarreal
01/24/2019 | Track and Field
Carlos Villarreal is a redshirt junior for the University of Arizona cross country and track and field teams. Hailing from Rio Rico, Ariz., the NCAA Indoor All-American is proving everyone, even himself, wrong.
"Before," said Villarreal, "I didn't really consider myself a long distance runner. Having a good cross country season definitely helped my mental game and knowing that if I can make cross country nationals, there should be no reason I can't compete with the best of them in my event."
Villarreal, who specializes in the mile run on the track, qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in his third season with the Cats. The highlight of the year came when he finished second in the NCAA West Regional with a time of 29:43.4, setting a PR in the 10K.
"I don't consider myself a cross country runner, but I had a good cross country season," said Villarreal. "I got second in the 10K in the west region. It gives me a huge confidence come the mile because that is my specialty. I know I can run with the best of them."
In the first outing of his 2019 indoor campaign, he used that confidence bump to clock a time of 4:00.36 in the mile at the Larry Wiezcorek Invitational. The time currently stands as the No. 4 mark on the NCAA list. He has run a pair of sub-4 miles, both clocked at UW's Dempsey Indoor facility.
This weekend, Villarreal will compete in the 2019 UW invitational, one of the premier distance meets in the country, to compete in the 3K where a loaded field awaits him.
"It is always a great field," Villarreal said. "I'm in better shape going into it … running at The Dempsey is always fun."
"It is always one of the premier indoor meets of the year for us," said head track and field coach Fred Harvey. "It is a really good, high-level indoor meet where we are looking to get athletes NCAA top-16 performances or top-10 MPSF performances."
Villarreal clocked a time of 3:59.65 in the 2018 UW Invitational and improved his time to 3:57.64 two weeks later at the 2018 Husky Classic in the Dempsey.
With him along every step of the journey has been distance coach James Li, who has given him the strategy he needs to achieve his goals.
"Stay in contact," Villarreal said of his strategy. "Stay focused and don't fall off. (Coach Li) tells me, 'be confident, you can run with anyone. Doesn't matter who it is, you can run with them.' It has helped a lot, especially in cross country. Now I know that I can stay with people at 10,000-meters, it is a big confidence booster. I stay in the race, and come the last 200-meters kick hard."
Villarreal gained notoriety with his "kick," a final effort in a race in a race before the finish line, when he ran his first sub-4 mile in the 2018 UW Invitational.
Villarreal said, "It's basically strength, everyone seems to think that a kick comes from your speed because it is that last final burst of speed to finish the race … It comes from your strength and how strong you really are. To be able shift gears and go from three to four to send it home."
Villarreal and a handful of distance Cats will compete in the 2019 UW Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
"Before," said Villarreal, "I didn't really consider myself a long distance runner. Having a good cross country season definitely helped my mental game and knowing that if I can make cross country nationals, there should be no reason I can't compete with the best of them in my event."
Villarreal, who specializes in the mile run on the track, qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in his third season with the Cats. The highlight of the year came when he finished second in the NCAA West Regional with a time of 29:43.4, setting a PR in the 10K.
"I don't consider myself a cross country runner, but I had a good cross country season," said Villarreal. "I got second in the 10K in the west region. It gives me a huge confidence come the mile because that is my specialty. I know I can run with the best of them."
Carlos Villarreal opens his 2019 indoor season with a time of 4:00.36 in the mile to finish 2nd!#BearDown #BeLezoLike pic.twitter.com/XieFXvkc6t
— Arizona Track & Field (@ArizonaTrack) January 20, 2019
In the first outing of his 2019 indoor campaign, he used that confidence bump to clock a time of 4:00.36 in the mile at the Larry Wiezcorek Invitational. The time currently stands as the No. 4 mark on the NCAA list. He has run a pair of sub-4 miles, both clocked at UW's Dempsey Indoor facility.
?????Carlos Villarreal?????????
— Arizona Track & Field (@ArizonaTrack) January 27, 2018
The sophomore just set a top-10 Div.1 mile mark for the second week in a row after running a 3:59.65 (PR) to win his heat??#BearDown #BeLezoLike pic.twitter.com/nD6SdueIRX
This weekend, Villarreal will compete in the 2019 UW invitational, one of the premier distance meets in the country, to compete in the 3K where a loaded field awaits him.
"It is always a great field," Villarreal said. "I'm in better shape going into it … running at The Dempsey is always fun."
"It is always one of the premier indoor meets of the year for us," said head track and field coach Fred Harvey. "It is a really good, high-level indoor meet where we are looking to get athletes NCAA top-16 performances or top-10 MPSF performances."
Villarreal clocked a time of 3:59.65 in the 2018 UW Invitational and improved his time to 3:57.64 two weeks later at the 2018 Husky Classic in the Dempsey.
That's back-to-back sub-4 times for Carlos in the mile run. Seems good.
— Arizona Track & Field (@ArizonaTrack) February 10, 2018
With him along every step of the journey has been distance coach James Li, who has given him the strategy he needs to achieve his goals.
"Stay in contact," Villarreal said of his strategy. "Stay focused and don't fall off. (Coach Li) tells me, 'be confident, you can run with anyone. Doesn't matter who it is, you can run with them.' It has helped a lot, especially in cross country. Now I know that I can stay with people at 10,000-meters, it is a big confidence booster. I stay in the race, and come the last 200-meters kick hard."
Villarreal gained notoriety with his "kick," a final effort in a race in a race before the finish line, when he ran his first sub-4 mile in the 2018 UW Invitational.
WOW! Carlos Villarreal comes out of nowhere to steal the show to run sub-4!@ArizonaTrack pic.twitter.com/0ln80zCpUI
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) January 27, 2018
Didn't think this video could get any better, but ???????.... *cue titanic theme song @CVillarreal12 pic.twitter.com/x2u5R3UFPg
— Chase McQueen (@chase_mcqueen3) January 29, 2018
Villarreal said, "It's basically strength, everyone seems to think that a kick comes from your speed because it is that last final burst of speed to finish the race … It comes from your strength and how strong you really are. To be able shift gears and go from three to four to send it home."
Villarreal and a handful of distance Cats will compete in the 2019 UW Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
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