Cross Country Teams Set Pace for the Fall
Thursday, August 27, 1998 | Cross Country
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of Florida Cross Country teams began training on Monday for the opening of the 1998 season just two weeks away. Both the men’s and women’s squads are coming off their best years in recent history and return most of their lineups intact.
The women’s team will go after their third consecutive Southeastern Conference title and their second straight district crown in 1998. Distance Coach J.J. Clark needs his talented team to find some new ways to win this season, though. Three-time SEC Champion Becki Wells completed her eligibility in 1997.
"This year all of our runners will be above average. I’m looking forward to seeing not just one of our runners out near the front, but five," Clark said. "I’m looking forward to seeing if we can win in a different fashion than we have in the last few years now that Becki won’t be out in front."
Sophomore Jennifer McGranahan (Pensacola (High), Fla.) was the top-finisher at the NCAA championships last year for the Gators; but look for any of Florida’s five returning All-SEC honorees - Hazel Clark (South Orange, N.J./ Columbia High), Beth Reed (Fredonia (High), N.Y.), Ramona Saridakis (West Palm Beach, Fla./ Cardinal Newman High) and Christina Starr (Boca Raton, Fla./ Spanish River High) - to lead the pack.
The men look to follow up on a season that brought them into the top three of the SEC and into the NCAA championships for the first time in four years. Senior Stephen Smeyak, an All-SEC and All-South Region team member, leads a returning squad that features all five of Florida’s top-finishers from the 1997 national championships. Head Coach Doug Brown expects even more improvement in 1998.
"It’s fairly straight forward and simple for us this year," Brown said. "Last year we were third in the SEC and we made it to the NCAA’s. This year we want to move up at least another place in the SEC. We expect to go back to nationals, but we want to try and win our district and be top 15 at the NCAA’s, not just go."
Both squads will kick off their seasons on Thursday, Sept. 10 on the UF Golf Course in the Nike Twi-Light Invitational at 6:30 p.m.
