SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Luke Holland and Camden Jaureguy represented the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs on the national stage at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Saturday morning. Luke Holland capped off his senior campaign in the best way possible, becoming just the third All-American in program history following a 25th place finish in a field of the nation’s top runners. Camden Jaureguy performed well in his NCAA debut, earning a 111th place finish out of nearly 300 student-athletes. 

How It Happened

On a warm and sunny morning in Spartanburg, Luke Holland and Camden Jaureguy took the line side by side to represent the Banana Slugs at the NCAA DIII Championships. The opening 1k of the contest was a blistering downhill segment that featured a massive crowd of runners with their eyes set on the same goal. Holland crossed the 1k split at 2:51.7 and while Jaureguy was only .7 seconds behind Holland in 2:52.4 at the 1k mark, the two were separated by 10 runners with Holland in 97th and Jaureguy in 107th. 

The next 1k challenged the field with an uphill climb with both Holland and Jaureguy dropping a few spots, but the duo got to work from there as they surged to put themselves in good position by the halfway point of the contest. Halfway through, Holland had jumped from 106th at the 2k to 34th by the 4k mark with a 12:08.7 split, just 21.2 seconds off the lead runner while Jaureguy moved into 100th with a time of 12:20.3. From there, Holland continued to battle, putting himself in the top 25 at 23rd with 2,000 meters left in the contest, splitting an 18:34.5 through 6k. Jaureguy sat in 101st at the 6k mark with a 19:03.4, holding his position well with just over a mile left to go. 

From there, Holland fell back just briefly into 27th place at the 7k but battled down the home stretch, passing two runners en route to a 25th place finish, crossing the line in 24:31.8 to secure All-American honors for the first time in his career and the third time in UC Santa Cruz program history. Jaureguy also fell back slightly by the 1k mark but surged in his last 1k, passing two runners in the final straightaway to cross the line in 25:24.5, finishing his NCAA debut with a 111th place finish.