Carlos Villarreal ran a sub-4-minute mile Saturday for the third time as an Arizona track athlete, clocking a personal-best time of 3:57.27 to win the indoor invitational event at the Last Chance Meet at the University of Washington.
Villarreal led the pack most of the race but fell to fourth or fifth with about 300 meters to go, said James Li, the UAβs distance coach. The Wildcat redshirt junior then mounted a strong kick to pass Oregon and Washington runners and win going away.
Improving his personal record by a half-second, Villarreal now ranks third unofficially on the list of mile runners seeking to qualify for the NCAA indoor championships.
The race βwas a good illustration of what Carlos can do, even when running against some of the best in college,β Li said. Seven runners in all ran under 4 minutes.
