Arizona Distance 2020 Preview

With less than two weeks until their first indoor meet, the Arizona distance runners are gearing up for the 2020 season.

"Our distance group is just coming off the cross country season," said associate head Track and Field and Cross Country coach James Li. "Most people are healthy and running quite well."

Many distance runners competed in the 2019 cross country season that concluded with the men finishing eighth at the Pac-12 Championships and the women placing fifth at the NCAA West Regionals.

The women's cross country team ran their best performances at both the Pac-12 championships and West Regionals since 2013. They were led by Jennie Baragar-Petrash who earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors and went on to finish eighth at the Canada Cross Country Nationals. Baragar-Petrash was joined by seven other Wildcats at West Regionals including Kayla Young who followed Baragar-Petrash's 18th place finish in 29th. The women are looking to carry this success over to the track and field season.

"For the women, we have a relatively young group and we are looking for some really significant breakthroughs," said coach Li. "Cross country has been great and many of them really ran their best season this year. With that strength and that base, they are really looking to become the level of runner that's going to be really competitive in the Pac-12 conference."

On the men's side, Carlos Villarreal will lead the Wildcats as he returns for his senior season. Villarreal spent his summer competing in the 1500-meter race at the NCAA Championships as well as the Pan American Games where he took home the gold medal with a time of 3:39.93. With one season left, Villarreal's goal for 2020 is quite clear.

"For the coming season, for Carlos his goal as well as ours as a team is to be in a position to win a national title," said coach Li.

Also on the men's side, Victor Ortiz-Rivera will officially complete his redshirt year and begin competing for Arizona. Ortiz-Rivera ran unattached for the Wildcats at the Dave Murray Cross Country Invitational where he took first place. The redshirt-junior from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico previously attended the University of Albany where he competed in both track and field and cross country.

With many experienced returners along with impressive newcomers, the distance crew is looking forward to a big 2020 season.

"I believe we will see a lot of significant and tremendous improvement. I of course am excited about some potentially high finishes at nationals or even winning a national title."

The runners will be back in action on January 10th at Friday Night Duels in Flagstaff, Ariz.

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Players Mentioned

Jennie Baragar-Petrash: D; Redshirt Sophomore

Carlos Villarreal: D; Redshirt Junior

Kayla Young: D; Sophomore

Victor Ortiz-Rivera: D; Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Jennie Baragar-Petrash
: Redshirt Sophomore
: D

Carlos Villarreal
: Redshirt Junior
: D

Kayla Young
: Sophomore
: D

Victor Ortiz-Rivera
: Redshirt Junior
: D