When his rival runners sputter, slow and even stall, Luis Nieves keeps going and going.

The long-striding junior mass communications major is Virginia Union University’s leader of the pack on the cross-country trails.

Nieves was the CIAA champion last year and is favored to repeat Thursday, Oct. 27, when he defends his 8K (5 mile) title over hill and dale at Bryan Park on Richmond’s North Side.

The CIAA announced earlier this month that it was moving the tournament from North Carolina to Richmond’s Bryan Park, with VUU as the tournament’s host institution.

“Luis is the No. 1 runner (in the CIAA), hands down,” said Panthers Coach Wilbert Johnson.

At one juncture this fall, Nieves was CIAA Runner of the Week for three straight weeks. He finished third overall and first among NCAA Division II runners out of 109 entries at the HBCU Challenge on Oct. 1 in Cary, N.C.

Under Coach Johnson, VUU also is favored for a third straight CIAA team crown.

From Boynton Beach, Fla., in the Greater Miami metropolitan area, 6-foot-2 Nieves, is often the tallest, as well as the fastest, runner in a given race.

Distance runners tend to be on the small to medium side. Nieves is the only VUU runner listed as taller than 6 feet.

“I think my long stride helps,” he said. “I don’t have to work as hard as some others.”

Coach Johnson adds: “Plus, Luis has a built-in kick.”

Dramatically, Nieves caught St. Augustine’s University’s Immanuel Hutchinson in his final strides to win a year ago in 26 minutes, 11 seconds in Cary, N.C. Hutchinson stopped the clock at 26:12.

Nieves attracts little wind resistance. He spreads that longish, leggy frame over a sinewy 150 pounds.

“I eat a lot,” he said with a chuckle, “but I just don’t gain weight.”

It’s not surprising his scant body weight might be compared to that of a hummingbird.

He trains twice a day — at 6 a.m. with the rest of the team, then again later in the day on his own.

“Sometimes I’ll run about 8 miles or so in the afternoon,” he said with a shrug.

Even all that doesn’t sap his boundless energy.

Despite warnings, it’s hard keeping him away from the basketball court in VUU’s Barco-Stevens Hall. Pick-up hoops is a “no-no” for scholarship track and cross-country runners.

“I’ve caught him (Nieves) a couple times,” Coach Johnson said good naturedly. “We just don’t want our runners to get injured.”

Nieves said, “I sneak in there some, just trying to have some fun.”

The first five runners for each team will count in the CIAA championship scoring.

VUU’s quintet aiming to “three-peat” starts with Nieves and includes Arthur Casey of Tampa, Fla., Linda Moise of Prince Georges County, Md., Myles Watson of Wilmington, Del., and Jordan Fountain of Varina High School in Henrico County.

Coach Johnson has high hopes that Chelsea Lewis, a freshman from Miami, will finish high in the women’s division.

Nieves hails from same Boynton Beach High School as University of Louisville Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“We ran track together,” said Nieves. “Lamar was a sprinter and I ran distances.”

As a freshman, Nieves went out for Boynton Beach track, aspiring to be a 400-meter sprinter. “But we had tryouts and I didn’t make the top four,” he recalled.

So he tried out at longer and longer distances until he found his niche in the endurance events.

VUU’s Coach Johnson learned of Nieves via his deep roots in the Sunshine State. Coach Johnson grew up in Pompano Beach and was an NAIA national hurdles champion at Florida Memorial University. Before coming to VUU, he coached at Florida A&M University.

“I found out about Luis through his summer club coach,” said Coach Johnson. “All along, we thought he could be special.”