Gators Return to Oxford for the SEC Championships

The Florida Gators return to Oxford to take part in the SEC Championships

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators Cross Country teams begin their postseason by traveling to Oxford, Mississippi, for the SEC Championships on Friday, October 28.

The women will compete in the 6k at 11:08 a.m. EST., and the men will begin their race at 11:50 a.m. EST. SEC Network will broadcast the SEC Championships starting at 11 a.m. EST. on Friday, with John Anderson (play-by-play) and Larry Rawson (analysis) calling the race. The awards ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. EST and will broadcast on SECN+. Fans can watch the meet by clicking here<https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=8108bdad-b158-4543-9144-dc65cfa98d96>.

The Gators raced in Oxford at the Ole Miss Course earlier this season as part of the SEC Preview Meet. At that meet, Ethan Geiger and Lucinda Rourke were the top-finishing Gators coming in third and sixth, respectively.

Florida enters the SEC Championships with momentum, having recently competed at the Arturo Barrios Invite at Texas A&M. At the meet, the men’s team finished 7th out of 40 teams, with Ethan Geiger placing 15th out of 360 finishers. The women’s team came in 3rd out of 41 teams and was led by Parker Valby, whose race earned her SEC Women’s Runner of the Week honors. She crossed the finish line first out of 326 competitors with a time of 18:58.2 in the 6k. This time improved upon her previous best of 19:41.38 (2021 NCAA South Regional) by 43.18 seconds. This gives Valby the second-fastest 6k time in Florida history, only 3.22 seconds behind the school record.

The SEC Championships have been held in Oxford three other times, and two of the three saw a Gator women’s runner cross the finish line first. In 2009 Rebecca Lowe finished first with a time of 20:57.35 in the 6k, and in 1996 Becki Wells finished first with a time of 17:04.7 in the 5k.

The Gators competing in the 2022 SEC Championships are below:

Women

Men

Caroline Bauer

Orlando Cicilioni

Emily Culley

Ethan Geiger

Olivia Jones

Eoin McNally

Kathryn Nohilly

Ryan Miller

Stephanie Ormsby

Josh Stern

Rylee Pustilnik

Javi Vento

Lucinda Rourke

Aiden Villasuso

Jordan Shapiro

Cavan Wilson

Emma Solis

Mac Wright

Vasileia Spyrou

Parker Valby

Liina Winborn

Live results will be provided by Delta Timing and are available here<https://live.deltatiming.com/meets/18235>.

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