Miami Hurricanes Cross Country had history made on Friday as they finished 13th over in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the NCAA South Regional Championships.
That history was made by senior Colten Morris, who in the 10k posted a time of 31:04.92, claiming the fastest 10k time in school history. Morris’ time was 25 seconds faster than Sean Pazzullo, who set the record in 2013.
He wasn’t the only one to add his name to the record books. Sophomore Michael Castillo and grad transfer Evan Pena both set impressive times to move themselves into the top 10. Castillo clocked a time of 31:37.92 the fifth fastest time and Pena ran a 31:45.47 the seventh-fastest time in school history.
Castillo, Pena and senior Enrique Borrego set a new personal best finished in the top 100 at the regional. This helped the Hurricanes place 13th out of the 27 teams in Alabama. Amongst those were three regionally ranked teams with No.11 UT Martin, No.12 Jacksonville State and No.14 Belmont all falling below Miami.
On the women’s side of things, there were still some other impressive performances. Junior Maddie Scheier was the most impressive as she notched the fourth fastest time in the school history in Women’s 6k. Her time of 20:42.37 helped her finish at 48th, the only woman to crack the top 100 on Friday.
This will likely be the last of the Hurricanes for this season in Cross Country. Despite a strong finish to the season the NCAA only selects 32 teams to represent in the Cross Country national championships.
18 of those are selected from placing in the top-two of their respective regional and the rest are chosen at large. That being said, the indoor track and field season is right around the corner and stars like Scheier and Morris can be expected to take to the track.
If the Hurricanes are able to qualify for Nationals, the championships will be held on November 22 in Columbia, Missouri.