UF XC: Valby and Palmer Sweep USTFCCCA South Region Yearly Awards

NCAA Champion Parker Valby claims back-to-back South Region Women’s Athlete of the Year while Palmer captures his first career regional honor.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year for the 2023 NCAA Division I Cross Country season were announced Tuesday afternoon by the USTFCCCA.

Winners were decided by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches following the conclusion of the NCAA Division I Cross Country season.

Redshirt junior Parker Valby and associate head coach Will Palmer were named the USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Athlete and Women’s Coach of the Year.

This comes just one week after Valby and Palmer swept the Women’s Southeastern Conference Cross Country Awards.

For Valby, this marks her second consecutive South Region Women’s Athlete of the Year title. She completed a dominant year on Saturday with an individual title at the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships while also adding first place finishes at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, SEC Championships and NCAA South Regional.

In his first year coaching the Gators cross country programs, Palmer led the Gators to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in addition to coaching Valby to the individual title. Palmer and the Gators also added a first place finish at the Mountain Dew Invitational, a runner-up finish at the NCAA South Regional and SEC Championship over the course of the season.

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