A pair of Wildcats win medals at the Pan American Games
LIMA, PERU – In the 18th ever Pan American Games, a pair of Wildcats shined the brightest on one of the biggest stages, competing against some great athletes!
It’s been a busy summer for a few Wildcats, as a few track and field stars and Arizona Athletes Carlos Villarreal and Jordan Geist competed in the 18th ever, Pan American Games.
For those that don’t know, the Pan American Games is a major athletic that features summer sports and is held every four years just before the Summer Olympic Games. Every four years, thousands of athletes from the ‘Americas’ participate in a variety of competitions that least just a couple weeks.
Arizona Wildcats
This time, a few Wildcats were able to participate in the games, and in typical Arizona fashion, our Cats Beared Down when it matter the most, and came away with medals!
For those who are unfamiliar with Geist and Villarreal, please become familiar and fast!
Geist, is the infamous, soon-to-be junior who was the 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in Track & Field, and also set the freshman record at Arizona, as well as the NCAA freshman indoor record in the shot put.
Well, while at the 18th ever Pan American Games, Geist took the silver medal in the shot put, with a throw of 20.67m (67-9.75) on his final attempt of the night. Not in a position to medal prior to that, he came up clutch, delivering the huge throw, to ultimately earn the medal!
As for Villarreal, he is the long-distance runner hailing from Rio Rico, AZ, now entering his redshirt senior season with the Wildcats!
Villarreal is coming off a rather solid 2019 campaign, in which Carlos took fourth place at the Pac-12 Championships in the 1,500 meter event, running the event in 3:50.74.
While competing at the Pan American Games, he ran a blazing time of 3:39.93, which was good enough for him to win gold! USA’s John Gregorek took silver, while Canada’s David William Paulson took third. Villarreal ran for Mexico in the 1,500 meter event!
What was amazing about the event, was that Villarreal made a last second push at the end to take gold!
https://twitter.com/TravisMillerFlo/status/1159611212663070726?s=20
light. More. On Arizona Athletics
At Zona Zealots, we’re proud of our Cats for competing and representing their respective countries, and more importantly the University of Arizona so well at the Pan American Games! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!