University of Houston Athletics
Barraza Heads to Louisville for NCAA Championships
11/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
HOUSTON - Eight days after claiming the individual championship at the NCAA South Central Regional, junior Brian Barraza will represent the Houston Cougar cross country team at the NCAA Championships in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday, Nov. 21.
Saturday morning's men's 10K will begin at noon CT and will follow the women's 6K, which will kick off at 11 a.m. The championship race will be held at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville.
Barraza ran 30:07.3 to claim gold by more than two seconds over Lamar freshman Illiass Aouani and win Houston's first ever individual regional championship. The El Paso, Texas, native will compete in his second consecutive NCAA Championship event after placing fourth at the NCAA South Central Regional in 2014, and moving on to place 224th in last season's national meet.
Barraza earned NCAA South Central Regional Male Athlete of the Year for his performance at the regional and also landed a spot on the All-Region team. He had previously been named to the All-American Athletic Conference Team for his performance at The American Championships in North Carolina on Oct. 31.
Barraza began his season with a win at the 2015 Rice Invitational, where he ran the 5.5K in 18:33.72. He was named American Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week after again defeating Aouani by over seven seconds. The former Franklin High School standout also claimed an individual championship at the Texas A&M Invitational on Sept. 26.
In all five of his races this season, Barraza has been Houston's top finisher, including his top-25 finish at the Pre-National meet on Oct. 17. Barraza finished 25th in 23:42.4 at the same course that he will return to this weekend in Louisville.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
A live web stream will be made available for the NCAA Championships via the NCAA. The live stream can be found by visiting NCAA.org and following the appropriate links, or by clicking here.
Complete coverage of the NCAA Championships can be found by visiting NCAA.org or by clicking here.
Live results of Saturday's race will also be made live courtesy of Prime Time Timing. To access the live stats visit PrimeTimeTiming.com or click here.
STAY CONNECTED
Follow Houston Track & Field on Twitter @UHCougarXC and "Like" /HoustonCougarCrossCountry on Facebook.
-UHCougars.com-
Players Mentioned
