Cross Country Set to Compete in NCAA South Regional Championship
Friday, November 14, 2008 | Cross Country
The University of Florida men's and women's cross country teams travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to compete in the NCAA South Regional Championship on Saturday, Nov. 15. The women will run the 6K race at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 10K race at 11 a.m.
The first and second-place teams earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship on Nov. 24 in Terre Haute, Ind. There are also 13 national at-large bids available based on teams' performance throughout the 2008 season.
The South Region is made up of teams from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. The No. 15 women will be racing against 24 other schools, including seven Southeastern Conference opponents. The UF women have finished ahead of all the SEC teams it will face on Saturday, including a second-place finish at the SEC Championship on Nov. 3. No. 3 Florida State is the only other ranked team competing, while Tennessee received two votes in the polls.
The Lady Gators are competing against 10 other schools they ran against in the regular season (not including the SEC Championship). The Gators finished first at the Mountain Dew Invitational on Sept. 20, beating South Florida (second), Jacksonville (fourth) and Central Florida (fifth). At the Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 3, the Gators tallied a fifth-place finish while FSU took first and Mississippi State finished 23rd. At the Pre-National meet, the Gators were the top finisher of the South Region teams in the blue division, coming in fifth. Georgia was next in 16th place, while Auburn (18th), Mississippi State (33rd) and Georgia Tech (36th) followed.
On the men's side, the Gators will also line up against 24 schools from the South Region, including seven SEC opponents. Alabama is the highest-ranked competitor, voted to the fifth spot in the country. The Tide is followed by No. 12 Auburn and No. 25 Florida State. The Gators received 33 votes in the last poll.
The UF men have run against six other South Region opponents (not including the SEC Championship). The Gators were the first-place finisher at the Mountain Dew Invitational, while South Florida came in eighth. In South Bend, Florida placed between Florida State's first-place victory and Mississippi State's 20th finish with a sixth-place tie. At Pre-Nationals, the Gators placed 12th as Auburn took fourth, Mississippi State finished 26th, Georgia Tech placed 31st and Ole Miss came in 38th.
In 2007, both the men and the women placed third at the South Regionals. The women earned an at-large bid to Nationals while current senior Jeremy Cricione (Interlachen, Fla.) earned an automatic bid as an individual to the Championship with a seventh-place finish. Four Florida men were named to the All-South Region team with top-25 finishes, including junior Sean Blaney (Kissimmee, Fla.), who placed 12th. Former Gator Lindsay Sundell crossed the finish line first for the women in 10th place. Sophomore Rebecca Lowe (Vaucluse, Australia) and senior Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach , Fla.) also earned All-South Region honors with respective 12th and 23rd-place finishes.
Full South Regional results will be available on Tennessee's webpage, http://www.utladyvols.com/sports/w-xc/spec-rel/2008southregional.html, while Florida specific results and a recap will be available on www.gatorzone.com.
