McNeill Named Mountain Region Athlete of the Year

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Junior All-American David McNeill from Northern Arizona was named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Mountain Region Athlete of the Year Wednesday afternoon. This is the second-consecutive year that McNeill has taken home the award.

“It is always tough to defend a title, so what this says about Dave is that he is in great shape, and that he is coming along when he needs to,” said Interim Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. “My expectations for Dave at the national championships are just that he goes out there and gives it his best shot to finish as high as he can. I know he would like to finish in the single digits after coming in 10th and 15th in his two previous races there.”

McNeill’s second-straight first-place finish at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships last weekend in Albuquerque, N.M., helped the Australian native claim the award. He finished the race in a time of 29:51, 12 seconds better than second-place finisher Miles Batty of BYU.

On Nov. 23, McNeill and his teammates will take part in the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Versus Network will televise Monday’s championship races with the men taking the course at 10:08 a.m. MST, and the women at 10:58. Versus is available on Dish Network channel 151 and channel 142 on NPG Cable Flagstaff.