UNCP Athletics

AS A JUNIOR (2016): Competed in five events … Finished 26th (20:01) at the Elon Opener … Crossed in 46th place (27:15.75) at the Furman Cross Country Classic … Tallied a 98th place finish (26:42.9) at the Royals Cross Country Challenge … Finished 26th (26:29.5) at the Peach Belt Conference Championships … Crossed in 63rd place (33:04.75) at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2015): Crossed in 11th place at the season-opening USC Upstate Eye Opener (8K) with a time of 27:49.65 … Finished in 44th place with a mark of 28:10.8 at the North Georgia Invitational (8K) … Logged a 130th place showing with a time of 27:09.7 at the Royals Challenge (8K) … Finished 45th with a mark of 28:09.2 at the Peach Belt Conference Championships (8K).

AS A FRESHMAN (2014): Ran his personal best time in the 8K at the Peach Belt Conference Championships with a time of 26:24.91 for a 29th place finish as the UNCP men’s team placed second … Competed in his first cross country race at the Queens Twilight Invitational where he helped the team become race champion with a 14th place finish and a personal best time in the 5K (16:22.9) … Captured a top-10 finish at the Bulldog Cross Country Invitational as he ran a time of 27:58.69 for a 6th place finish and a team champion honor … Registered a 32nd place finish with a time of 27:05.9 at the Charlotte Cross Country Invitational in which the Braves captured third place … At the Royals Cross Country Challenge, he logged a 35th place finish as he crossed the finish line in a time of 26:50.6.

HIGH SCHOOL: Prepped at University High School under coach Sally Jarvis… A four-year letterman in track and field and two year letterman in cross country … As a senior, he advanced to regionals in cross country and posted a season best time of 16:13 in the 5K … Also ran the 3200m run (9:53), 1600m run (4:35), 800m run (2:09) and made it to track regionals … Named a captain of the cross country team, all-metro in cross country and was the MVP for track and cross country … In his junior campaign, he ran a time of 16:10 in the 5K and advanced to regionals … In track, he improved on all his times … Was an all-metro track runner, cross country MVP, captain and garnered the coach’s award for track and field.

PERSONAL: The son of Laurie Santiago and Anthony Sayers-O’Neill … Has one brother, Xavier … Graduated with cum laude honors with a 3.5 grade point average … An exercise science major at UNCP.