LuisOrta

Collegiate Bests
1,500M: 3:48.98 | Mile: 4:07.30 | 3,000M: 8:08.09 | 5,000M: 14:02.45 | Steeplechase: 8:42.22

2012-13
Outdoor (Senior) – Set the UK 3,000-meter steeplechase record running 8:42.22 to make the NCAA Championships at NCAA East Prelims … Finished 16th overall at the NCAA Championships in the steeplechase … Competed at NCAAs in the steeplechase for the second straight season … Scored at SECs in the Steeplechase and 5K … Also competed at 5K with season-best 14:19.40 having been recorded at one of the nation’s best early season distance meets, the Stanford Invitational.

Indoor – Did not compete.

Cross Country (Senior) – Qualified for the NCAA National Championship for the first time in his career … Named All-Southeast Region for his performance at NCAA Regionals, which earned him a berth in the National Championship field …Three-time SEC Men’s Runner of the Week honoree … All-SEC First Team Member … Won the Belmont-VU Opener to kick off the season, running 15:22.40 at the 5K event … Winning the Belmont-VU Opener marked the second consecutive year that Orta opened the season with a win … Grabbed his second victory of the year at the Tennessee Cross Country Invitational … Completed the 8K Tennessee Invitational in 25:07.34 … Posted a top-10 finish at the Greater Louisville Classic after covering the 8K course in 24:17.72, a season best for the Wildcats in 2011 … Took fifth out of over 100 entries at the Panorama Farms Invitational … Ran 24:29.74 at the Panorama Farms Invitational … Led the Wildcats at the SEC Cross Country Championships with a fifth-place finish … Completed the 8K at the SEC Championships in 24:28.36 … Finished 21st out of 218 at the NCAA Southeast Region Championship after finishing the 10K in 30:46.8.

2011-12
Outdoor (Junior) -Named Second Team All-SEC after finishing second in the 3,000m steeplechase at SEC Championships … Steeplechase time at SECs was the second fastest steeplechase run in UK history … career-best time of 8:44.25, the third-fastest 3,000m steeplechase in Kentucky history … Ran career-best time of 8:44.25, the second-fastest 3,000m steeplechase in school history at NCAA Prelims to qualify for NCAAs … Finished 22nd at Nationals … Won Steeplechase at Texas Relays.

Indoor (Senior) – Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year … Produced one of the best performances in Southeastern Conference Championships history in 2012 on his home indoor track, becoming first SEC student-athlete to win both the 3,000 meters and 5K in the same championships since 2007… Was Kentucky’s first-ever winner in the 3,000m, and was Kentucky’s first winner in the 5K at SECs since Richard Ede in 1987 … Men’s co-recipient of the Cliff Harper Trophy, awarded to the high-points scorer of the meet.

Cross Country (Junior)- Three time SEC Men’s Runner of the Week honoree … All-SEC First Team Member … Won the Belmont-VU Opener to kick off the season, running a 15:22.40 at the 5K event … Winning the Belmont-VU Opener marked the second consecutive year that Orta opened the season with a win … Grabbed his second victory of the year at the Tennessee Cross Country Invitational … Completed the 8K Tennessee Invitational in 25:07.34 … Posted a top-10 finish at the Greater Louisville Classic after running the 8K in 24:17.72, a season best for the Wildcats in 2011 … Took fifth out of over 100 at the Panorama Farms Invitational … Ran a 24:29.74 at the Panorama Farms Invitational … Led the Wildcats at the SEC Cross Country Championships with a fifth-place finish … Complete the 8K at the SEC Championships in 24:28.36 … Finished 21st out of 218 at the NCAA Southeast Region Championship after finishing the 10K in 30:46.8.

2010-11
Outdoor (RS Sophomore) – Led the team in the 1,500m run, 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m run … Had his fastest 1,500m run time come at the Border Battle … Ran a 3:48.98 in the 1,500m for his fastest time of the year … Fastest time in the 3,000m steeplechase came at the Payton Jordan Invite when he crossed the finish line in 3:52.62 … Best 5,000m run came at the SEC Championships … Crossed the finish line in the 5,000m run at the SEC Championships in 14:25.68.

Indoor (Junior) – Led the team in the 3,000m run with a time of 8:12.88 … His best time in the 3,000m run came at the Husky Classic … Ran his best mile at the Rod McCravy meet in late January, crossing the finish line with a time of 4:10.49, the third best time on the team.

Cross Country (Sophomore) – Capped off another fantastic cross country season with the Wildcats, leading the Cats as their top performer in five of the six races he competed in … Won the San Francisco Invitational with a time of 24:25 to open the 2010 season … Recorded a personal-best 8K time at the Greater Louisville Invitational … Competed in all six races for the men’s cross country team … Closed out the 2010 season with three top-five overall finishes, including a first-place finish at the San Francisco Invitational and two fifth place finishes at the Iona College Meet of Champions and the Blue Ridge Open … Finished each 8K race of the season in the top 32 overall … Recorded a personal-best 10K time at the NCAA Southeast Regional, crossing the finish line in 33:41.60.

2009-10
Outdoor (Sophomore) – Did not compete.

Indoor (Sophomore) – Did not compete.

Cross Country (RS Freshman) – After successful freshman cross country campaign, was forced to withdraw from final meet of season at the NCAA Southeast Regional because of a hamstring injury … Led the UK men to the finish at the SEC Championships, completing the 8K course in 25:12 to place 13th overall and earn All-SEC Second Team accolades … Also earned conference All-Freshman team honors as a result of the finish … Placed among the top three UK runners in each meet of the season in which he ran … At the 5-mile Old Timers Classic, topped the UK contingent placing sixth overall in a time of 25:30.

2008-09
Outdoor – Smashed his men’s 3,000M steeplechase freshman record at UK for the third time of the season at the SEC Championships, besting his old standard by over six seconds in 8:52.39 to place second overall and earn All-SEC Second Team honors … His steeplechase mark stands third all-time in the UK record books … Finished 16th in the steeplechase at the NCAA Southeast Regional … Set the Kentucky freshman steeplechase record for the second time at the Jesse Owens Classic with a regional-qualifying finish of 8:58.83 … Broke another 19-year-old freshman standard by posting a time of 9:00.27 to win the steeplechase competition at the Florida Relays.

Indoor – Topped his own the 3,000M run freshman record set earlier in the year by over three seconds with a fifth-place time of 8:19.25 at the Iowa State Classic … Broke the 13-year-old UK freshman 5,000M record at the Penn State National Invitational with a time of 14:33.82 … Opened the season at home in the Kentucky Invitational by toppling a 19-year-old men’s freshman record in the 3,000M run by more than a second, crossing the line at 8:22.83 … Member of seventh-place distance medley team at the SEC Championships … Ran the second-fastest mile run on the team, with a mark of 4:10.62 at the McCravy Memorial Meet.

Cross Country – Did not compete.

High School
Ranked first in America and 14th in the world in the steeplechase at world junior competition in 2008 … Two years prior, ranked sixth in the world in steeplechase in world youth competition … Member of Venezuelan National Team … Placed 12th in the steeplechase at the 2008 World Junior Championships held in Poland … Finished 80th overall at 2007 World Cross Country Championships held in Kenya … Placed second in steeplechase at 2007 South American Junior Championships held in Brazil … Runner-up in steeplechase at 2007 Pan American Games held in Brazil … Notched two titles at the 2006 South America Youth Championships in Caracas in the steeplechase and 3,000 meter run … Won 2007 South American Cross Country Championship held in Brazil … Coached by Armando Moreno.

Personal
Full name is Luis Alberto Orta Millan … Born Jan. 15, 1989 in Caracas … Parents are Jorge Orta and Ruth Millan de Orta … Has three brothers, Otto, Jorge and Jorge … Served as 2012 December Commencement Speaker as he graduated with a double major International Studies and Spanish … Now a graduate student in the UK Sports Leadership Program.