Carlos Villarreal Runs Sub-4 At UW Invitational

(photo by Tim Riley)

Over the weekend, Arizona Wildcat and Redshirt-Sophomore Carlos Villarreal ran his first sub-4 Mile performance to win Heat 5 of the event in Seattle, Washington at the UW Invitational. Over the final turn Carlos overtook Steven Fahy (Stanford, Sr.), Thomas Riva (Vic City Elite), and Aaron Braun (Hoka NAZ Elite) for the win in 3:59.65.
A two-time Arizona State Champion for Rio Rico High School from 2014 and 2015 at both 800m and 1600m, Villarreal holds a State record of 4:03.97 for 1600m from the Division 3 State Championships. Later that month, Carlos won the Prefontaine Classic Mile with a 4:05.25 performance. He enrolled as a student athlete at the University of Arizona, but had a major setback in his freshman year. From January to October of 2016 he dealt with IT band issues.
(Below: Carlos repeats as 2015 State Champion for 1600m.-photo by John Hays)
Carlos has his coaches, training staff, family, and friends to thank for helping him overcome his injury. "They didn't let me get discouraged no matter what." In addition, Carlos paid visits to chiropractor Dr. John Ball PhD. of Maximum Mobility in Chandler, Arizona. "His treatments helped me get healthy and back to running again."
It certainly paid off. A year ago as a Redshirt-freshman, he ran 4:03.37 for an indoor mile. "I feel like it was a year's worth of work that ultimately got me ready for it. Last spring, I was running on very low mileage so now that I've been able to run for a full year, I'm better prepared mentally and physically."
In addition to the name he's made for himself as an Arizona Wildcat, having dual citizenship for both the United States and Mexico, Carlos is the 8th Mexican to run Sub-4. The first of hopefully many milestones to come. "One of my goals is to compete in the Olympic Games whether it be for Mexico or USA." We wish him the best in his pursuit of those dreams.
Check out results from the UW Invitational here.