Cross Country Gears Up for SEC Championships
Monday, November 3, 2008 | Cross Country
The University of Florida men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the Southeastern Conference Championships on Monday, Nov. 3 in Starkville, Miss. The women will run the 6K race at 11:00 a.m. (ET) and the men will run the 8K race at 12 p.m. (ET). Each team is allowed to send 10 runners to the starting line.
The No. 14 women will be racing against 11 other SEC teams, including No. 13 Arkansas, the only other nationally-ranked team. Florida is ranked second in the South, while Tennessee (third), Georgia (fourth), Auburn (fifth), Vanderbilt (seventh), Alabama (eighth), and Mississippi State (13th) fill out the region. Arkansas is the top vote-getter in the South Central, while Kentucky is fifth in the Southeast.
The women have competed against other SEC teams twice in 2008: at the Pre-National meet on Oct. 18 and at the Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 3. The Gators took fifth in both meets as the top conference finisher. They beat Georgia (16th), Auburn (18th) and Mississippi State (33rd) at Pre-Nationals and Kentucky (16th) and Mississippi State (23rd) in South Bend, Ind.
In the 2007 SEC Championship, the Lady Gators finished fourth behind conference-champion Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia. Current senior Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) was the first Gator to cross the finish line, in eighth overall. Sophomore Rebecca Lowe (Vaucluse, Australia) placed 12th overall and both women received All-SEC honors. Senior Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach, Fla.) is also returning to the starting line; she was the final Florida runner to score in 2007, placing 29th.
The women were picked to finish second by the SEC coaches before the season started.
The No. 28 men will run their first race this season as a ranked team. They will be competing against 10 other SEC opponents. Alabama is the highest nationally-ranked schools, as the Razorbacks are fifth in the country. Auburn is tied for the 11th spot and Arkansas is ranked 26th. The Gators are fourth in the South Region, while Alabama is first and Auburn second. Tennessee (fifth), Mississippi State (seventh), Georgia (12th), Vanderbilt (14th) and Ole Miss (15th) are also ranked in the South. Arkansas is second in the South Central Region and Kentucky is 10th is the Southeast.
The men have run against other conference teams at the Pre-National meet and Notre Dame Invitational as well. While the Gators took 12th at Pre-Nationals, Auburn placed third while Mississippi State finished 26th and Ole Miss finished 28th. Florida was the top SEC finisher in South Bend, Ind., tying for sixth place, while Mississippi State placed 20th and Kentucky 22nd.
Current senior Jeremy Criscione (Interlachen, Fla.) led the Gators to a second-place finish behind Arkansas. Criscione was the individual runner-up as well, recording the highest finish by a Gators since Keith Brantly won the event in 1983. Junior Sean Blaney (Kissimmee, Fla.) was the second UF runner to cross the finish line, placing 12th overall. Both Criscione and Blaney earned All-SEC honors.
The men were voted to finish fourth by SEC coaches at the beginning of the season.
Kruzel has the fourth-best time at Florida for the SEC Championships as she ran the six kilometers in 20:36.15, finishing 15th in 2005. Criscione's 23:56.28 8K time last year also ranks fourth in UF records books at the conference championship meet.
Arkansas has won the SEC Championships for the past two seasons while the Florida men have been the runner-up both times. The last time Florida held the SEC title was in 1987 on the men's side and in 1997 on the women's. The Arkansas men have won the meet every year since 1991, but the Tennessee Vols have the most titles with 25. Arkansas has won 13 titles to lead the women.
