David McNeill is relaxed heading into his final track race for NAU and he has every reason to be.
The senior distance runner owns the top time in the nation for the 5,000-meter race, a NAU-school record at 13 minutes, 25.63 seconds. McNeill also won the indoor championship in the event in March this year and finished second in last year's outdoor race coming in about a second behind Oregon's Galen Rupp.
McNeill's plenty confident, but feels like he has the target on his back for this Saturday's race in Eugene, Ore. That, and he has to deal with Liberty junior Sam Chelanga, who beat McNeill in the 2009 cross country championship and McNeill returned the favor during their indoor race, out-kicking Chelanga to beat him to the line by less than a second.
"It's going to be just as close if not closer than the indoor race," NAU head coach Eric Heins said.
Chelanga plans on running in both the 5,000 and 10,000, while McNeill's solely focused on his single race. Chelanga owns the best time in the 10,000 by more than a minute.
"There's no one at his level in NCAA right now," McNeill said.
McNeill said that winning the 5,000 during the indoor season, along with his parents flying in from Australia, has put more pressure on him to win, though he's OK with that. He's set to run the best of his career, no matter the stakes or pace of the race.
"It's a long, long season. Somebody could win the indoor national championship and come to the outdoor season and maybe not be the favorite. He's got a tough challenge ahead of him," Heins said.
The race is scheduled to be broadcast on CBS at 11:21 a.m., Arizona time on Saturday.
McNeill will be joined by fellow distance runner Ahmed Osman and throwers Javier Villarreal and Andres Rossini at the outdoor championships in Eugene.
"The four guys going all have a shot to go and be All-American or finish in the top eight and score some points for the team," Heins said.
Osman will make a return to the 10,000 where he finished ninth last year and came in second during the West Regional in Austin, Texas two weeks ago. His race is on Thursday night.
Rossini will compete in the discus today and hopes to improve on his eighth-place finish at regionals.
"I feel like I got the job done (at regionals)," he said. "I was nervous I wouldn't make the top 12.
He and Villarreal have been working out together since school got out in early May, which has been nice for Rossini, who's become inspired by Villarreal's drive and work ethic.
"He's really into it right now and that helps me to realize that in a year that I'll be in his position so I better take advantage of it right now and learn to do better," Rossini said.
Villarreal is making his second-straight appearance after throwing the shot put in last year's championship. He's especially motivated for his final appearance in an NAU uniform and has a large contingent of his family coming to watch his final collegiate competition on Saturday. He's hoping to earn All-American status and score points for the Lumberjacks.
Heins is hoping that everyone scores over the next few days. If the Lumberjacks can pull out a strong finish from the outdoor championships, it would make them one of top-rated programs in the nation for all three sports. Currently, NAU ranks second in the John McDonnell Program of the Year Award standing after finishing fourth in cross country and eighth in indoors.
"It's exciting," said Heins, who is still the 'interim' coach of the Jacks. "If we can pull of a top 20, maybe even top 15 finish, that would leave us pretty high in the overall program rankings."
Jacob May can be reached at jmay@azdailysun.com or 556-2257.
