Breland set for National Championship appearance this week

NEW ORLEANS – After his performance at the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship earlier this month, Drake Breland earned a spot in the NAIA National Championship, which is set for Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Columbia, Missouri. 
 

With a seventh-place finish among 74 runners in the 8-kilometer run at the SSAC Championship, Breland received not only All-Conference honors but also a spot on the SSAC All-Freshman team. The Belle Chasse, Louisiana, native closed the conference meet well, passing another runner down the stretch to beat him by 1.2 seconds and earn the final qualifying spot in the national meet. 
 

Breland competed in five meets in his first season, earning first place in the 8-kilometer run at the Loyola Invitational with a 26:51.0 time, one that he improved by nearly a minute in his final race of the 2024 campaign at the SSAC Championship (25:59.0).
 

Breland is also the first Wolf Pack men's cross country runner to compete in the National Championship since 2021. His program accomplishments did not stop there as his SSAC Championship time is the seventh-best spot in the Loyola record book. Additionally, Breland holds the fifth-best time in program history in the four-mile run, 21:18.84.
 

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