The teams will travel to Columbia, South Carolina for the conference championship.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – We have reached the final days of October which means that the Cross Country postseason is finally here.
The Gators begin their postseason in Columbia, South Carolina as the men’s and women’s teams will take part in the 2023 SEC Cross Country Championships.
Twelve of the fourteen Southeastern Conference teams are set to compete in the Men’s race, while all fourteen conference members will do battle on the women’s side.
Just a year ago, the Florida Gators men and women recorded tenth and fifth place finishes at the 2022 SEC Cross Country Championships.
Additionally, Parker Valby was crowned the SEC Cross Country Individual Champion in 2022 as she recorded the fastest 6k in Florida women’s history, breaking the record by an outstanding 29.08 seconds, and tallied the fastest 6k time in SEC Championship history.
As for the 2023 competition, the men’s race will be the first of the two as they take part in an 8k race starting at 10:08 a.m. ET. Shortly after, the women will take to a 6k course as the gun is set to sound at 10:50 a.m. ET.
LAST TIME OUT
Last time the Gators took to the course, the women’s program earned a fifth-place finish at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
Competing in a 6k race, the team collected 262 points led by Parker Valby who finished first overall. Valby was followed by strong performances by her teammates as three other Gators recorded top-forty finishes: Flomena Asekol (16), Elise Thorner (30) and Allison Wilson (38). The final Gator to score was Lucinda Rourke.
While the women completed an impressive performance, the men remained in Gainesville to continue preparation for the SEC Championships.
ALL-SEC QUALIFICATIONS
Cross Country All-SEC Teams will be determined by the placement of the athletes in the SEC Cross Country Championship. The All-SEC First Team will consist of the top seven finishers of each gender. The All-SEC Second Team will consist of the next seven finishers of each gender. Finally, the SEC All-Freshman Team will consist of the top seven freshman finishers of each gender.
POTENTIAL GATOR PARTICIPANTS
Men
Women
Michael Fiore
Flomena Asekol
Ethan Geiger
Sayla Donnelley
Parvej Khan
Olivia Jones
Adam Magoulas
Amelia Mazza-Downie
Matthew Stratton
Rylee Pustilnik
Javi Vento
Lucinda Rourke
Aiden Villasuso
Jordan Shapiro
Joe Wester
Vasileia Spyrou
–
Breanna Stuart
–
Elise Thorner
–
Parker Valby
–
Allison Wilson
–
Liina Winborn
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
Twelve of the fourteen teams in the Southeastern Conference will compete in the Men’s Championship, as both Mississippi State and South Carolina do not have men’s programs.
All fourteen Southeastern Conference teams will be represented in the Women’s Championship.
Men
Preseason SEC Ranking
Women
Preseason SEC Ranking
Alabama
3rd
Alabama
3rd
Arkansas
2nd
Arkansas
2nd
Auburn
7th
Auburn
T-8th
Florida
8th
Florida
1st
Georgia
10th
Georgia
13th
Kentucky
6th
Kentucky
7th
LSU
T-11th
LSU
6th
Missouri
9th
Mississippi State
14th
Ole Miss
4th
Missouri
12th
Tennessee
1st
Ole Miss
4th
Texas A&M
5th
South Carolina
11th
Vanderbilt
T-11th
Tennessee
5th
–
–
Texas A&M
T-8th
–
–
Vanderbilt
10th
SEC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION & DETAILS
Location
Columbia, South Carolina
Date/Times
Friday, October 27
Meet Schedule
Men’s Championship – 10:08 a.m. ET
Women’s Championship – 10:50 a.m. ET
Distances
Men’s Championship: 8k
Women’s Championship: 6k
Stats
2023 SEC Cross Country Championships Live Stats & Results<https://live.pttiming.com/xc-ptt.html?mid=5858>
Live Broadcast ($)
2023 SEC Cross Country Championships Live Broadcast (SEC Network)<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/1d2a24ef-865c-4f2a-8676-2a1a375e1170>
Play-by-Play: John Anderson
Analyst: Carrie Tollefson
Coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. ET.
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