Cross Country Teams Vie for Spot in NCAA Meet
Thursday, November 9, 2000 | Cross Country
This week, the Gators will return to the scene of the 2000 SEC Championships where they ran on Oct. 30. The cross country course at the Harry Pritchett Golf Course in Tuscaloosa, Ala., will be extended to 10,000m for the men's NCAA South Region Championship and will remain at 6,000m for the women's race.
The men's team will have its full arsenal of runners this week as it prepares to better its fourth place finish from a year ago. The Gators tallied 115 points and had two runners earn All-South honors at Auburn's course last year. Rob Evans (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) has returned from the Paralympic Games in Australia and will be ready to run and defend his eighth place finish last year. Chris Duncan (Phoenix, Ariz.), fresh off his first ever All-SEC performance two weeks ago, also earned All-South honors in the 1999 regional meet. Traveling for the Gators will be Donnell Bowen (Plantation, Fla.), Courtney Chambers (Lauderhill, Fla.), Duncan, Evans, Carlos Hinojosa (Orlando, Fla.) and Rolando Ortiz (Staten Island, N.Y.).
Florida joins Alabama and South Florida as the three main competitors for the team title on the 10km course. Alabama's David Kamani, the defending NCAA champion, was the winner of the SEC Championship on Oct. 30 is the individual favorite.
Duncan has been Florida's top threat all season. In the first three races of the season, he earned his first career victories and was still the top Florida finisher in every other race. The 6-2 junior was an NCAA All-America in the indoor Mile last winter. Both he and Ortiz were All-SEC performers on Oct. 30.
The women's team finished fourth on the 6km course at the SEC Championships on Oct. 30. The Gators, who have three runners in the top six who are freshman, hope to build on the experience of the Oct. 30 meet. One of those freshmen, Hilary White (Gainesville, Fla.), was the 16th overall finisher at the SEC meet and finished one place out of All-SEC honors. Florida's women's team will consist of Nona Allen (Marietta, Ga.), Mason Cathey (Jacksonville, Fla.), Eliana Lopez (Boca Raton, Fla.), Erin Merten (Jacksonville, Fla.), Kelly Walker (Palm Coast, Fla.), Alicia Weber (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and White.
The Lady Gators finished second at last season's Regional meet and advanced to the NCAA Championships where they finished 31st. In 1999, Florida finished second to South Florida on Auburn's course for the Regional championship. Kris Jost was the top Gator finisher in the race, taking seventh place and leading a total of four Florida athletes to All-region honors.
The top two teams from each race earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships in Ames, Iowa, on Nov. 20. The top four individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the NCAA championships automatically. The top 15 athletes from each race will earn All-South Region honors. The NCAA will announce those teams receiving an at-large bid to the championships on Nov. 13.
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