Florida Gators
SEC Championship
Howell Earns All-SEC Freshman Status as Gators Compete at SEC Championships
Friday, October 31, 2014 | Cross Country
The Florida Gators competed at the 2014 SEC Cross Country Championships Friday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at the Harry Pritchett Cross Country Course. Behind a 24th-place finish from sophomore Taylor Tubbs, the Gator women finished seventh, while All-SEC Freshman Team recipient Thomas Howell helped the men to a 10th-place finish.
A post-produced packaged broadcast of the 2014 SEC Cross Country Championships will air on the SEC Network at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 9.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
· Three Florida women set 6K personal bests on Friday. Redshirt sophomore Devin McDermott ran a 21:15.81, sophomore Amber Johnson's 21:57.16 bested her previous top mark by five seconds and freshman Gabrielle Yatauro crossed the line in 23:26.56.
· Howell placed 47th, earning Freshman All-SEC status, becoming the sixth Gator male to accomplish the feat since 2011, which is tied with Missouri for the most during that time period. At least one Florida male has earned the distinction every year since 2011.
· Freshman Lauren Brasure ran a 21:28.00, which is the fastest time by a female Gator freshman at SECs since Genevieve LaCaze, a 2012 Olympian for Australia, ran a 20:49.73 in 2009.
· Eight Gators (four men & four women) made their SEC Championship debuts on Friday.
| MEN | WOMEN |
| Elliot Clemente (Jr.) | Lauren Brasure (Fr.) |
| Austin Decker (Fr.) | Becky Greene (RFr.) |
| Thomas Howell (Fr.) | Devin McDermott (RSo.) |
| David Kilgore (RJr.) | Gabrielle Yatauro (Fr.) |
·
RESULTS
| Men (Complete Results) 8K | ||
| 35. | Carlos Miranda | 25:28.55 |
| 47. | Thomas Howell | 25:41.16 All-SEC Freshman Team |
| 51. | David Kilgore | 25:49.21 |
| 60. | Elliot Clemente | 25:59.85 |
| 64. | Mac Reynolds | 26:04.70 |
| 77. | Mark Mutz | 26:21.28 |
| 82. | Austin Decker | 26:32.07 |
| Women (Complete Results) 6K | ||
| 24. | Taylor Tubbs | 20:49.68 |
| 38. | Becky Greene | 21:06.53 |
| 42. | Devin McDermott | 21:15.81* |
| 49. | Lauren Brasure | 21:28.00 |
| 66. | Grace VanDeGrift | 21:46.53 |
| 76. | Amber Johnson | 21:57.16* |
| 86. | Macy Huskey | 22:13.50 |
| 118. | Gabrielle Yatauro | 23:26.56* |
| *Denotes personal best Team Top Five Finishers | ||
| 1. | Arkansas | 54 points |
| 2. | Mississippi | 60 points |
| 3. | Auburn | 77 points |
| 4. | Missouri | 87 points |
| 5. | Kentucky | 120 points |
| 10. | Florida | 251 points |
|
Team Top Five Finishers | ||
| 1. | Arkansas | 32 points |
| 2. | Vanderbilt | 85 points |
| 3. | Alabama | 140 points |
| 4. | Missouri | 142 points |
| 5. | Mississippi State | 171 points |
| 7. | Florida | 201 points |
*Denotes personal best
SPANGLER SPEAKS
On the women's team performances…
“For the women, it was a much better job than the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. It is certainly not where we want to be. Becky Greene had her best 6K if the year and Devin McDermott had a great race and really stepped it up today. It's not where we want to be, but it is certainly better than Wisconsin.”
-Florida assistant track and cross country coach Paul Spangler
MORE QUOTABLES
“It was great to be able to perform my best for the Gators. It wasn't a [personal best] for me, but it was a close and it was faster than what I ran last year – it was progress.”
-Sophomore Taylor Tubbs
UP NEXT
The Gators will be off for two weeks before running at the NCAA Regional Championships in Tallahassee, Fla. on Friday, Nov. 14. The race serves as a qualifier for the NCAA Championship.
For all of the latest information on Florida cross country:
