Cross Country's Lowe, Morgan Earn Regional Honors
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 | Cross Country
No. 5 University of Florida's redshirt sophomore Rebecca Lowe (Vaucluse, Australia) was named South Regional Female Athlete of the Year and coach Todd Morgan was named South Regional Women's Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association on Wednesday.
Lowe won the 2009 NCAA South Region Championship on Nov. 14, leading the third-ranked Gators to their third regional title in the program's history. Her 6K time of 20:03.29 was the second-fast 6K time ever run by a Gator and the fastest in a regional meet. She was the fourth Gator to win an individual regional title, the first since Becki Wells in 1997.
The redshirt sophomore also took home the 2009 Southeastern Conference individual title as Florida captured its fourth team title on Oct. 31, the first since 1997. Later in the week, she was named the 2009 SEC Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year for her performance.
Earlier in the season, Lowe helped earn the Gators a second-place finish at the highly-competitive Pre-NCAA Invitational, only to No. 1 Washington as she finished ninth overall and second among Gators. She was one of two UF runners to earn Florida's first-ever top-10 finishes at the meet.
Morgan is in his second year as the primary coach for the cross country teams and his fourth season at Florida. The women's team has been stellar this season, climbing its way up the national polls from a preseason 14th pick to as high as the number-three spot. They also jumped from the second spot in the South Region ranking to the No. 1 ranking and fulfilled their preseason pick as SEC champions.
Morgan has coached the Gator women to top-five finishes in all six meets this season, including the SEC and South Regional Championship wins, a win at the Mountain Dew Invitational and a third-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational, another competition filled with nationally-ranked teams.
The Gators travel to Terre Haute, Ind., for the NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 23. The women's 6K race is slated to begin at 12:58 p.m. (ET). The event will be televised live on Versus and streamed on ncaa.com.
