Valby named USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Women’s Athlete of Week.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Following her commanding victory at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, redshirt junior, Parker Valby has been named USTFCCCA NCAA Division 1 Women’s Athlete of the Week as released by the USTFCCCA on Monday afternoon.
This marks the first time a Gator has won the award since Valby won nearly a year ago after her victory at the 2022 SEC Championships.
On Friday, Valby may have recorded one of the most impressive races of her collegiate career. The 2022 NCAA Cross Country Runner-Up was crowned the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational Champion by a margin of 12.4 seconds, topping high caliber competition including former NCAA Cross Country Champions and 21 other ranked programs.
The Tampa, Florida native jumped to the front of the pack as soon as the gun sounded. As the race progressed, Valby was able to slowly grow her lead. She held only a 0.6 second lead through the first 2k, which grew to a 7.5 second lead through 4k as Valby displayed her strength and incredible pacing. She eventually ended the contest with a 12.4 second advantage over the second-place finisher, Katelyn Tuohy, who bested her at the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Her final mark, 19:17.2, was a new Wisconsin Course record, taking two seconds off the previous record of 19:19.0 set in 2015. She accomplished this feat despite heavy rain and strong winds throughout the contest.
Valby also propelled the No. 9 Florida Gators to a fifth-place finish at the meet, totaling 262 points and recording victories over No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 8 Washington and No. 10 Colorado. Other competition in the field included: No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 2 North Carolina State, No. 5 Stanford, No. 11 Georgetown and No. 12 CBU.
POINTS FROM PALMER
“Parker has continued to elevate her game over the past months and has really invested in raising her running IQ. I think much of that work was reflected in her race this past weekend. She’s also feeding off the positive energy from our team as a whole. It’s exciting to see things start to come together and I know she will only improve as we move into the post-season.”
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