Florida Gators
Mountain Dew Invitational
Florida Men's XC Notches Mountain Dew Title; Women Third at UF's Home Invitational
Saturday, September 14, 2013 | Cross Country
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- In front of an Orange & Blue-clad crowd at UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course, junior Jimmy Clark cruised to an individual victory in the men's college 8k race, leading the Gator men's squad to its eighth Mountain Dew Invitational title in the last nine years. In women's action, senior Agata Strausa paced Florida with a second-place finish in the 6k competition as UF checked in third in the women's team standings to cap off the 25th Annual MDI Saturday.
In the highly competitive meet, which served as a preview to the 2013 SEC Championships in Nov., three Southeastern Conference squads rounded out the top three team finishers on the men's side as Florida posted 33 points for first, while Auburn (50) and Tennessee (55) checked in second and third. Auburn (71) and Tennessee (71) tied for the team lead on the women's side, while the Gators racked up 76 points for their third-place finish.
WORTH NOTING
· Clark notched the seventh top-10 finish of his career at Florida with a college-best 23:53.78, the fourth-fastest 8k ever run at the Mark Bostick Golf Course
· Close behind Clark, senior Mark Parrish finished second, while Eddie Garcia, JL Hines and Carlos Miranda scored third, fourth and fifth for Florida after crossing fourth, ninth and 20th, respectively, in men's action
· In addition to Clark, Garcia notched a career-best mark, Miranda ran his first collegiate 8k and Elliot Clemente, Harsha Torke, Mac Reynolds and Mark Mutz all ran college-best 8k marks Saturday
· On the women's side, sophomore Julie Macedo ran a Florida-best mark in the 6k competition, while freshman Taylor Tubbs and junior Macy Huskey each ran their first Mountain Dew 6ks as Gators
· Strausa, Macedo, Tubbs, Huskey and senior Brittany Koziara counted as UF's five scorers on the women's side, finishing second, 14th, 18th and 51st in the field of 270 collegiate women's athletes
SPANGLER SPEAKS
Florida assistant track and cross country coach Paul Spangler
On the men's performance Saturday:
"We were really happy with the men's team today, Jimmy, Mark and Eddie Garcia had a great race today and proud of Carlos Miranda for stepping up in that fifth spot with a 25:10. JL Hines ran well – across the board we were really happy with the men. We ran some great times on a pretty tough course. I'm happy with where we are at right now, but we obviously need to continue to get better and get ready for our upcoming meets.”
On his analysis of the women's team performance at Saturday's Mountain Dew Invite:
“Two of our top six couldn't go today and we also held (redshirt junior) Cory McGee out, so that hurt us from a team score standpoint. It is what it is at this point, but we'll get those two girls healthy and get Cory into the mix in time for the Wisconsin adidas Invite and in time for the SEC Championships. We're a much better team as a whole when those girls are with us and unfortunately, they weren't able to go this morning.”
On the Mountain Dew Invite and hosting such a large college and high school meet at UF:
“It's probably one of the largest invitationals we've ever had here – over 2,500 athletes competed today. Our trainers, managers, track & field staff, operations and event staff did a great job hosting the meet. This is regarded as one of the premier cross country meets in the state; it was when I ran here in high school, I loved to come up to Gainesville and compete. The growth from last year to this year is indicative of the job our staff does putting a first-class event on.”
UP NEXT
The Orange & Blue will enjoy nearly a month-long training period before swinging back into action at the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee Oct. 11. UF will then head to the ultra-competitive and top-25 saturated Wisconsin adidas Invitational for a solid mid-season test before the championship portion of the 2013 campaign kicks off with SECs in Gainesville Nov. 1. For all info about the Gator cross country squads, stay posted to www.GatorZone.com/crosscountry.
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RESULTS
Gator Women 6k Mountain Dew Invite Results (Complete Results)
| 2. | Agata Strausa | 20:51.06 |
| 6. | Julie Macedo | 21:37.94 |
| 14. | Taylor Tubbs | 22:01.77 |
| 18. | Macy Huskey | 22:12.51 |
| 43. | Bryce Seymour | 22:48.04 – unattached |
| 51. | Brittany Koziara | 23:03.59 |
Team Top Five Finishers
| 1. | Tennessee | 71 points |
| 1. | Auburn | 71 points |
| 3. | Florida | 76 points |
| 4. | South Carolina | 109 points |
| 5. | South Florida | 154 points |
Gator Men 8k Mountain Dew Invite Results (Complete Results)
| 1. | Jimmy Clark | 23:53.78 |
| 2. | Mark Parrish | 23:59.41 |
| 4. | Eddie Garcia | 24:26.46 |
| 9. | JL Hines | 24:40.75 |
| 20. | Carlos Miranda | 25:10.10 |
| 25. | Elliot Clemente | 25:25.84 |
| 26. | Harsha Torke | 25:28.40 |
| 38. | Mac Reynolds | 25:49.84 |
| 39. | Brian Gorwitz | 25:49.84 – unattached |
| 41. | Mark Mutz | 26:00.14 |
Team Top Five Finishers
| 1. | Florida | 33 points |
| 2. | Auburn | 50 points |
| 3. | Tennessee | 55 points |
| 4. | North Florida | 143 points |
| 4. | FGCU | 143 points |
