• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Phoenix Sports Today

Phoenix Sports News Continuously Updated

  • Cardinals
  • Diamondbacks
  • Coyotes
  • Basketball
    • Mercury
    • Suns
  • Soccer
  • Colleges
    • Arizona State
    • Grand Canyon University
    • Northern Arizona
    • University of Arizona

Former Arizona All-American runner Carlos Villarreal retires, citing foot injury

May 11, 2022 by AZ Desert Swarm

carlos-villarreal-arizona-wildcats-track-and-field-sprinting
Arizona Athletics

One of the Arizona Wildcats runners of this century is hanging up the cleats.

Former UA track athlete Carlos Villarreal announced last week that he is retiring from professional running due to a lingering foot injury. Villarreal most recently competed for On Athletics Club.

Villarreal detailed his foot injury in a recent Instagram post.

“It was damn near impossible to run without pain,” he wrote. “It began to frustrate me BAD. It got to the point where I became resentful of running. Hated it for a while. Didn’t want anything to do with it. It was hard wanting something so bad and not be able to get even relatively close to it. But luckily, I had a great team to rally with that picked me up when I was feeling down. Not to mention their performances were inspiring to me as that helped me get through all the endless cross training and rehab.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carlos Villarreal (@carlossvillarreaal)

Villarreal went on to thank his mentors and former coaches, including ex-UA cross country and track and field coach James Li.

Villarreal, who was born in Sonora, Mexico and grew up in Rio Rico, competed three full seasons at Arizona. He earned Indoor All-American honors in 2019 after finishing fourth in the mile at the NCAA Championships with at time of 4:08.41. Villarreal’s career-best mile time is 3:56.77.

Villarreal made a splash on the international scene when he won the 2019 Pan American Games 1500 meter competition representing Mexico.

Filed Under: University of Arizona

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Diamondbacks Defense in Center Field
  • Are there really three tight ends better in the NFL than Trey McBride?
  • Potential availability of Warriors’ player could change Suns’ entire offseason
  • Cardinals could revive a former first-round pick’s career with one bold trade
  • Diamondbacks restructure bullpen again as pitching depth gets new look

Categories

Archives

Our Partners

All Sports

  • 247 Sports
  • ArizonaSports.com - 98.7 FM
  • Bleacher Report
  • Heat Waved
  • OurSports Central
  • The Arizona Republic
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • USA Today

Baseball

  • Arizona Diamondbacks
  • AZ Snake Pit
  • Last Word On Baseball
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Venom Strikes

Basketball

  • Phoenix Suns
  • Amico Hoops
  • Basketball Insiders
  • Bright Side Of The Sun
  • High Post Hoops
  • Hoops Hype
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball
  • Pro Basketball Talk
  • Real GM
  • Valley Of The Suns

Football

  • Arizona Cardinals
  • Cardinals Gab
  • Cards Wire
  • Deep Dive
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Football Talk
  • Raising Zona
  • Revenge Of The Birds
  • Words From The Birds

Hockey

  • Elite Prospects
  • Five For Howling
  • Howlin Hockey
  • Last Word On Hockey
  • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Talk
  • The Hockey Writers

Soccer

  • Last Word on Soccer
  • MLS Multiplex

College

  • AZ Desert Swarm
  • Busting Brackets
  • College Football News
  • College Sports Madness
  • Devils In Detail
  • House Of Sparky
  • Last Word On College Basketball - Univ of Arizona
  • Saturday Blitz
  • Zags Blog
  • Zona Zealots

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in