Cross Country's Mark Parrish Named Co-SEC Men's Runner of the Week
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 | Cross Country
Florida sophomore men's cross country runner Mark Parrish (Tampa, Fla.) picked up the Gators' seventh Southeastern Conference weekly honor of the season, earning co-SEC Men's Runner of the Week accolades after his performance at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational in Madison, Wis., Oct. 14. For Parrish, the honor marks his first of the season, second of his career, after also earning SEC Male Freshman of the Week honors once last year during his inaugural campaign with the Orange and Blue.
In one of the most competitive fields the Gators will see all fall, Parrish crossed the finish line first for the Orange and Blue at the Wisconsin Badger-hosted meet last Friday, recording a career-best 8K mark of 24:29.2, surpassing his previous best (24:34.7), set at the 2010 Wisconsin adidas Invite. He currently holds the fifth-best 8K time in the SEC after leading Florida in the competition that consisted of 39 men's squads, 20 of which were ranked in the USTFCCCA top-30 national poll at the time of the competition.
Parrish was one of just 11 underclassmen in the competition to place in the top 50 among the 270 total men's participants after crossing 47th as UF's first scorer.
The Gators will endure their last training period of the fall campaign – a two-week idle phase – before the championship portion of 2011 begins with the SEC Championship race, hosted this year by Tennessee at Lambert Acres Golf Club in Maryville, Tenn., just outside of Knoxville. For more information as SECs approach, stay tuned to www.GatorZone.com/crosscountry and follow the Gators on Twitter @GatorZoneXCntry and @GZTrackField.
Florida's 2011 SEC Weekly Honors
Sept. 6 – SEC Men's Freshman of the Week, Jimmy Clark
Sept. 6 – SEC Women's Freshman of the Week, Grace VanDeGrift
Sept. 13 – SEC Women's Freshman of the Week, Tenley Godfrey
Sept. 13 – SEC Men's Runner of the Week, Phil Duncan
Sept. 27 – SEC Men's Runner of the Week, Matt Mizereck
Sept. 27 – SEC Women's Runner of the Week, Genevieve LaCaze
Oct. 18 – SEC Men's Runner of the Week, Mark Parrish
