Parker Valby claimed her first NCAA Cross Country Individual Championship leading the Gators to a fifth place finish in Virginia.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After finishing runner-up in 2022, Parker Valby has been crowned the 2023 NCAA Division I Individual National Champion in dominant fashion and led the Gators to the best finish in Florida cross country history.
Valby’s title is Florida’s first for cross country between both the men’s and women’s programs. Across all sports, 240 different Gators have claimed 353 NCAA individual titles.
A Gator has now claimed at least one title in each possible sport that offers individual NCAA wins – cross country, golf, gymnastics, swimming & diving, tennis and track & field.
As we’ve seen plenty of times this season Valby got out to a commanding lead. Half-way through the contest the Tampa, Florida native captured an 18.4 second lead over a pack of seven runners that were all separated by less than a second.
She sustained said lead through most of the race, ultimately crossing the finish line in 18:55.2. Her mark was 10.6 seconds faster than the second place finisher.
Valby’s finish, in addition to a top-40 scoring finishes by Flomena Asekol and Allison Wilson as well as well fought performances from Elise Thorner and Liina Winborn, landed the Gators in fifth place.
The team finished one spot better than the best men’s placement of all time and completed the contest two spots better than the highest women’s finish.
Asekol completed Saturday’s race eight spots ahead of her 2022 finish as she crossed the finish line in sixth earning six points for the Gators. Asekol was propelled to such a strong finish courtesy of her fastest kilometers coming in the first and final kilometer.
Allison Wilson was the next Gator to add to the point total as her placement of 49th gave Florida 36 points. Wilson continued to pick through the pack as she improved her placement at every kilometer split throughout the course.
Florida rounded out its scoring with Elise Thorner placing 75th (57 points) and Liina Winborn placing 202nd (168 points).
RESULTS
Women’s Team Finishes
Team
Place
Points
NC State
1st
123
Northern Arizona
2nd
124
Oklahoma State
3rd
156
Notre Dame
4th
237
Florida
5th
268
Tennessee
6th
294
Alabama
7th
314
Washington
8th
323
Arkansas
9th
329
Oregon
10th
335
Individual Finishes – Women’s 6k Championship
1) Parker Valby – 18:55.2
6) Flomena Asekol – 19:26.9
49) Allison Wilson – 20:12.6
75) Elise Thorner – 20:31.0
202) Liina Winborn – 21:34.0
242) Lucinda Rourke – 22:34.7
DNF) Amelia Mazza-Downie
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
