Leonel Manzano

Leonel Manzano

Personal

Born September 12, 1984 in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico. He is an American cross-country and track and field athlete. Manzano represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, China. At the age of four, Manzano's family moved from Mexico to Flatonia, Texas. Less than a year later, the family relocated to Granite Shoals, a small community just outside Marble Falls, Texas.

Honors

Two-time NCAA Champion
Six-time All-American
Three-time NCAA Midwest Region Champion
NCAA Midwest Region Record Holder (1,500)
Seven-time Big 12 Champion
Three-time All-NCAA South Central Region
Eight-time All-Big 12
2007 IAAF World Championship participant (1,500)
2007 U.S. Outdoor Championships (Second Place)
2006 U.S. Outdoor Championships (Third Place)
2007 NCAA Division I South Central District Outdoor Athlete of the Year
2007 Penn Relays Most Outstanding Athlete (College Men’s Relays)
2005 Big 12 Indoor Freshman Performer of the Year

Collegiate Bests:

Indoor Mile Run (3:58.78), Indoor 800 (1:49.26), Outdoor 1,500 (3:35.29), Outdoor 3,000 (8:27.18)

2007-08

Cross Country (Junior)
Started the season late but finished as the top Texas runner at the NCAA and South Central Regional Championships.
Garnered cross country All-American honors for the first time in his three-year fall distance running career... extended UT’s streak of four consecutive years with an All-American... ran 30:21.7 on the 10K course for 27th place.
Led Texas with a 29:30.7 performance and his highest career all-region finish (third) at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships.
Earned All-Big 12 honors with a ninth-place finish at the conference championships... registered his 8K personal-best time of 25:04.00, finishing in the top 10 for the first time.
Opened the season with a 25:18 performance at the Blue Ridge Open for 23rd.

2006-07

Outdoor (Junior)
Made the U.S. Track and Field team with a runner-up performance at the U.S. Track and Field Outdoor Championships... recorded the fastest time in Texas school history, running 3:35.29 for one of three automatic bids.
Finished in 3:45.97 in the preliminary round of the IAAF World Championships in August 2007.
Earned his sixth All-America honor with a runner-up performance at the NCAA Championships... ran a then-season best time of 3:37.48 in the finals after advancing as the top runner in the semifinals (3:42.13).
Became the first student-athlete in NCAA Midwest Region history to win three titles in an individual event... captured his third 1,500-meter title and set a meet record with a then-season best 3:40.21... only the second three-time NCAA Midwest Region Champion joining Texas Tech’s Marlon Odom (110-meter hurdles)... fifth fastest time in the preliminaries (3:42.17).
Opened the championship season with a win in the 1,500-meter (3:41.60) at the Big 12 Championship... added a 10th-place performance in the 5000 meter run (14:49.27).
Named Penn Relays Most Outstanding Athlete Men’s College Relays Division after anchoring the distance-medley and 4xmile relays... added second career Texas Relays’ DMR win (9:48.79).
One of three Longhorns to regionally qualify in the 1,500-meter during the season.
Broke the Mike A. Myers Stadium 1,500-meter record with his winning time at the Texas Twilight (3:42.10).

Indoor (Junior)
Added a second NCAA title to his resume, besting the mile run field in 3:59.90... took home two All-America honors as he anchored the eighth-place distance-medley relay (9:41.81).
Anchored the DMR to the nation’s fastest and Texas school record mark of 9:31.27... time was the fastest of the season entering the NCAAs and shattered the Alex Wilson Invitational record... the time was the fastest in school history by over three seconds (prior record was 9:34.60 set in 2004).
Set two Big 12 meet records – mile run and distance-medley relay... won the mile in a school record time of 3:58.78... anchored the DMR to an all-time conference best of 9:43.66.
Won the Tyson Invitational DMR title running 9:38.66... added an individual win in the mile in 4:04.74.
Opened the season with an 800 win in 1:52.22 at the NYC Gotham Cup and a 4x800-meter relay victory (7:43.70).
Ran NCAA provisional time of 3:59.08 for first at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.

2005-06

Outdoor (Sophomore)
Placed fourth in the 1500m (3:44.59) at the NCAA Championships to garner his second outdoor All-America honor in as many seasons.
Anchored UT’s distance-medley relay to Texas’ first DMR win at the Penn Relays, breaking the 17-year-old school record in 9:33.10, marking the nation’s fastest time.
Helped UT set the school record with a final split of 3:56.6 and anchored the UT DMR to its first win at the Texas Relays since 1948 (9:48.56).
Rallied to win the 1,500m in 3:42.86 at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.
Claimed the 1,500m at the Texas Twilight with a NCAA regional mark of 3:44.03.
Placed sixth in the 800m (1:51.78) at the Big 12 Championships and took third in the 3000m (8:27.18) at the Texas Twilight.

Indoor (Sophomore)
Placed seventh in the mile (4:15.74) at the NCAA Championships to earn his first indoor All-America honor.
Won the mile (4:02.66b) and anchored the distance-medley relay team to victory (9:49.59) at the Big 12 Championships.
Broke his own school record in the mile with a time of 3:58.84 to win the event at The Husky Classic.
Placed 15th in the 3000m (8:14.59) at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational

Cross Country (Sophomore)
One of the top three scorers on the team and one of five Longhorns selected to the All-NCAA South Central Region team.
Finished second for Texas and 16th overall, missing an all-conference team selection by one spot, at the Big 12 Championship with a time of 25:13.
Crossed the line at the NCAA Regional Championship second for UT and ninth overall in a time of 30:19.10.
Ended the season with his best performance at a cross country national meet, as the 54th overall runner and second for Texas in a time of 32:00.80... his time was four seconds away from earning a cross country All-American honor.
Named to the 2006 All-Big 12 Academic Cross Country second team and helped UT to two top 10 team finishes, including a team championship, in the first three meets.
Experienced impact runner who took 28th overall at the Bill Dellinger Invitational (8K) in 24:03
Recorded a third-place showing at the Texas Invitational in 19:16.

2004-05

Outdoor (Freshman)
Bested the mile field and set a new UT school record in the 1,500m to win his first NCAA Championship... his time of 3:37.13 broke Paul Craig’s UT mark set in 1977 and was the second-fastest time by an American up to that point in 2005.
Took first as a rookie at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in 3:44.93.
Named Big 12 Men’s Outdoor Freshman of the Year, becoming the second consecutive Longhorn to earn the award after Andra Manson won it in 2004.
Took the Big 12 Conference crown in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:45.45 and became the second Longhorn to win conference titles in the outdoor 1,500 meters and the indoor mile.
Added a 1,500-meter victory at the Oregon Invitational to complete a perfect season in the event.
Won the mile with a personal-best time of 4:15.28 at the Texas Relays.

Indoor (Freshman)
Won the Big 12 Championship after breaking Reed Fischer’s 21-year-old school record in the mile (3:59.86b) and became just the second Longhorn to break the four-minute barrier indoors.
Ran 4:03.90 in the prelims of the NCAA Championships before placing 10th in the finals in 4:12.91.
Placed seventh at the Tyson Invitational with a time of 4:02.20b.
Finished first in his inaugural collegiate race, the 1,000m at the Father Diamond Invitational in 2:27.30.

Cross Country (Freshman)
Placed 22nd at the Big 12 Championship (8K) in 24:40 and as the second UT finisher.
Made the All-NCAA South Central Region team with a sixth-place performance at regional meet (10K) in 30:52.
Placed 68th at the NCAA Championship (10K) in 30:43.
Placed fifth at the Blue Ridge Invitational (8K) in 25:00 and third at the State Farm Cross Country Open (3.5 miles) in 25:36.

High School

Nine-time Texas 4A champion at 800m (twice), 1,600m (twice), 3,200m (twice) and cross country (three times) at Marble Falls High School.
Claimed the mile, two-mile, and cross country state Championship as a sophomore for the Mustangs.
Also finished fourth in cross country as a freshman, second in the mile as a junior, and seventh in the mile as a senior at state.
Held prep personal bests of 1:50 in the 800m, 4:06 in the 1,600m, and 9:07 at 3,200m.

2008 Beijing Olympic Games

In finishing second in the 1,500 meters at the 2008 Olympic Trials, Manzano became the first University of Texas 1500m runner to make the U.S. Olympic squad and the second UT miler to earn an Olympic bid.

Manzano, who reached the semifinals of the 1,500 meters by running a 3:36.67, placed 12th in the second of two heats with a 3:50.33. He spent most of the first two laps towards the front of the pack, but was jostled a few times as the pace picked up and fell to the back. [http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/USA/Leonel+Manzano/246180]