Breland competes at NAIA National Championship

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Freshman Drake Breland represented the Maroon and Gold in the NAIA National Championship on Friday. Breland was one of four individual qualifiers from the Southern States Athletic Conference to compete in the event. Friday's 8-kilometer championship race took place in Columbia, Missouri, at the official cross country track of the University of Missouri.
 

In Friday's race, Breland closed out the season by earning a time of 26:42.7, the seventh-best time by any Loyola runner in the national championship in any year. Breland completed the race in 277th place in a race of 326 runners
 

Breland earned a spot in Friday's national event by receiving a seventh-place finish in the 8-kilometer race at the SSAC Championships for a career-high mark of 25:59.0, the seventh-best in program history. Breland finished strong in the race, passing a runner to secure the final spot in the national championship by 1.2 seconds. 
 

His success in the conference championship also secured him a spot on the All-Freshman team along with an All-Conference nod for notching a finish in the top 15. The Belle Chasse, Louisiana, native is also the first Wolf Pack man to compete in the event since 2021. Breland also added his name to the Loyola record book by earning the fifth-best time in the four-mile run of 21:18.84.
 

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