Khan was named SEC Freshman Runner of the Year and Valby dubbed SEC Women’s Runner of the Year.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ahead of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Southeastern Conference has announced, as of Wednesday afternoon, that Parvej Khan and Parker Valby will be named SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year and SEC Women’s Runner of the Year for the 2024 Outdoor Track & Field season.
The SEC Outdoor Track & Field awards recognize student-athletes outstanding performances throughout the outdoor season and is voted on by the league’s 15 head coaches.
Khan becomes the first Gator to be named SEC Outdoor Freshman Runner of the Year since Gator Great, and eight-time NCAA Individual Champion, Grant Holloway in 2017.
Valby has now swept the SEC Women’s Runner of the Year awards for the Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor seasons during 2023-2024 and becomes the first athlete since 2017-2018 to do so. Her honor also marks the second consecutive year that a female Gator has swept the Indoor and Outdoor SEC awards in their respective discipline (Jasmine Moore – SEC Women’s Indoor & Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year).
PARVEJ KHAN – MEN’S FRESHMAN RUNNER OF THE YEAR
After being named a USTFCCCA First Team All-American during the 2024 Indoor season, Khan has continued his impressive freshman campaign. The Indian national began outdoors competing at the Pepsi Florida Relays where he notched the No. 4 time on Florida’s Outdoor All-Time Top 10 List in the 800m as he crossed the finish line in 1:46.12. Two weeks later, Khan added his name to the Outdoor All-Time Top 10 list in the 1500m as he secured the No. 2 time (3:38.76) while battling the rain at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Despite his success during the regular season, Khan truly shined during the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Entered in both the 800m and 1500m, Khan was able to capture two medals during the weekend action. First competing in the 1500m, the Madhya Pradesh native deployed his lethal kick to secure the gold medal behind a time of 3:42.73. Khan became the first Florida Gator to win the 1500m at the SEC Outdoor Championships in 41 years (1983 – Todd Sinclair (3:48.28)).
Just an hour after competing in the 1500m, Khan tallied a time of 1:46.80 in the 800m leading to a bronze medal finish.
Most recently, the freshman phenom punched his ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 1500m by finishing fifth in his quarterfinal heat at the NCAA East Preliminaries.
PARKER VALBY – WOMEN’S RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Coming off an Indoor Season where she set a collegiate record on two separate occasions and tallied two NCAA Individual Championships, Valby continued her dominance during outdoors. In her first race since the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Valby competed in the 10,000m for the first time in her career at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Her time of 30:50.43 shattered another NCAA record of 31:18.07, held by Lisa Uhl, which had stood for 14 years. With said performance, Valby joined an elite group of women as she became the 13th woman in American history to have broken 31 minutes in the 10,000m.
The Tampa, Florida native continued her season running on her home track for the first time in her collegiate career during the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The redshirt junior became the back-to-back SEC Outdoor Champion in the 5000m, tallying a time of 15:07.86. This time broke the old program record, which was held by Valby from her performance at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and is the No. 4 time in NCAA history.
She joined Shelly Steely (1984-1985) as the only two Florida Gator females to win back-to-back SEC Outdoor 5000m titles.
Most recently, Valby punched her ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in both the 5000m and 10,000m while competing at the NCAA East Preliminaries.
Khan, Valby and the Gators conclude the outdoor season at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships from June 5 to June 8 in Eugene, Or.
2024 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Awards
Men’s Runner of the Year
Christopher Morales-Williams, Georgia
Men’s Field Athlete of the Year
Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, Ole Miss
Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year
Parvej Khan, Florida
Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year
Micah Larry, Georgia
Men’s Coach of the Year
Chris Bucknam, Arkansas
Women’s Co-Runners of the Year
Parker Valby, Florida
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year
Veronica Fraley, Vanderbilt
Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year
JaMeesia Ford, South Carolina
Women’s Co-Freshman Field Athletes of the Year
Akaoma Odeluga, Ole Miss
Women’s Coach of the Year
Dennis Shaver, LSU
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter<https://twitter.com/GatorsTF> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/pages/University-of-Florida-Track-Field-and-Cross-Country/272013273259?ref=bookmarks> | YouTube<https://www.youtube.com/user/uftrack> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/gatorstf/?hl=en>
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
