The Gator women finished second in the NCAA South Regional, earning an automatic Qualification to the NCAA National Championship in Madison, Wis.
TALLAHASSEE – Florida Gators Women’s Cross Country has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championship race in Madison, Wis. after a second-place team finish at the NCAA South Regional at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.
Hilda Olemomoi finished first overall, giving her the individual regional championship and her first race win of the season. She defeated the second-place runner, Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, by less than one tenth of a second. Both runners boasted final times of 19:30.6, with Olemomoi a touch ahead.
The Win marks the third consecutive year that a Gator runner has topped the podium, as Olemomoi takes the crown after Parker Valby secured each of the previous two in 2022 and 2023.
The Gator women scored a total of 79 team points, with strong performances from Tia Wilson, Allison Wilson and Beth Morley who each finished 12th, 15th and 16th respectively. Senior Liina Winborn rounded out the scoring, and she climbed from spot 51 around the 2000m mark all the way to 35th to cross the finish line.
On the Men’s side, Ethan Geiger finished 12th in a ninth-place team performance by the gators. Geiger’s 12th place finish was the best individual placement in a regional by a men’s runner for Florida since 2015, when Jimmy Clark finished fourth and Eddie Garcia fifth in the South Regional. Geiger’s career performance lofted the Gators to their ninth-place finish, their best team finish in a regional since 2021.
Complete Results from Friday’s NCAA South Regionals can be found here.<https://pttiming.com/event.php?mid=2049&pt=schedule>
The Women’s team will now prepare for the National Title Race in Madison, Wis. on Saturday, Nov. 23.
Florida’s Results
Women’s Pl Time
Hilda Olemomoi [JR] 1 19:30.6
Tia Wilson [JR] 12 20:16.4
Allison Wilson [SR] 15 20:20.9
Bethan Morley [JR] 16 20:21.0
Liina Winborn [SR] 35 20:42.2
Caroline Wells [JR] 40 20:46.9 *
Gabrielle Schmidt [FR] 65 21:13.0 *
Men’s Pl Time
Ethan Geiger [SR] 12 30:19.1
Matthew Mule’ [JR] 48 31:22.0
Michael Fiore [JR] 54 31:28.0
Josh Ruiz [FR] 56 31:30.4
Matthew Stratton [SO] 67 31:42.2
Riley Novack [FR] 83 32:13.3 *
Orlando Cicilioni [SR] 92 32:20.6 *
Team Finishes – Top 10
Men
Alabama (80)
Ole Miss (91)
Tennessee (109)
Florida State (112
Auburn (143)
North Florida (156)
Lipscomb (170)
Georgia Tech (234)
Florida (237)
Mid. Tennessee State (244)
Women
Alabama (63)
Florida (79)
Florida State (106)
Tennessee (123)
Lipscomb (134)
Ole Miss (150)
Georgia Tech (180)
Auburn (229)
Vanderbilt (271)
Miss. State (278)
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