UVU cross-country: Joshua McCabe gears for NCAA Nationals

OREM, Utah – Although it's been two years since Utah Valley University's Joshua McCabe competed in his first NCAA Cross Country Championships, UVU cross-country coach Scott Houle said McCabe will know what it will take to be ready when he runs in his second and final NCAA Championships on Saturday at E.P "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kent.

"It was nice for him (the first experience)," Houle said. "It's not going to be a brand new experience for him. He'll understand the preparation and the fanfare in being at the NCAAs."

The senior earned his trip Nationals last Friday with an 11th-place finish (30 minutes, 21.4 seconds) in the 10K NCAA Mountain Regional held in Fort Collins, Colo.

"It will be nice for him to go and race and not be affected by the hoopla," Houle said.

The race gets underway at 11:15 a.m. MT. A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast on NCAA.com.

In his nationals appearance in Terre Haute, Ind. in November 2010, McCabe was hampered by an injury an placed 242nd with the time of 33:42.3.

McCabe's 11th-place finish this year in Fort Collins was good enough for one of the four automatic bids for individuals not part of the top three teams. Teammate Cliff Nielson finished just out of an automatic bid and was considered for one of eight at-large bids but was not selected.

Both runners were among the 450 athletes selected by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for All-Region awards, which was announced Monday.

The recipient athletes finished in the top 25 individually at one of the nine regional sites to earn the honor.

Nielson, a junior, finished 16th overall at the NCAA Mountain Regional with a time of 30:31.9.

Jay Hinton is a sports information assistant at Utah Valley University.