University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
NCAA Championship
Barraza Finishes Impressive Season At Nationals
11/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
HOUSTON- Sophomore distance runner Brian Barraza represented the University of Houston Cross Country team with a 224th place finish at the NCAA National Championship Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday.
The El Paso, Texas native competed with the best cross country athletes in the NCAA in a 10K race at Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute. Barraza finished the race in 33:01.9 and ended the season among the top competitors in the nation.
Barraza qualified for the NCAA Championships after his fourth place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional in Fayetteville, Ark., last Friday. The El Paso native ran a 29:41.5 at Agri Park and missed breaking Al Lawrence's Houston school record in the 10K by just 5.1 seconds.
With his qualification into the National meet, Barraza became the first Cougar since 2011 and just the seventh all-time to make an appearance as an individual. Barraza was also just the fifth athlete since 1961 to compete in the Championships.
For Barraza, the NCAA Championship was the culmination of what had already been an incredible 2014. The year began with Barraza's relay team winning the 2014 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship in the Men's DMR and being named to each of the indoor and outdoor All-American Athletic Conference teams for Track and Field. From there, Barraza won silver at the USA Championships and the U.S. Junior Championships to qualify for the opportunity to run for his country, and compete for Team USA at the Junior Worlds.
Players Mentioned
