Florida Gators
Mountain Dew Invitational
Record-Breaking Performance Leads Gators to Title; Men Take Second at Mountain Dew Invitational
Sunday, September 21, 2014 | Cross Country
On a cool morning that hovered in the mid-70's, the Florida cross country teams were anything but cold at Saturday's Mountain Dew Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Led by a 1-2-3 finish from freshmen Lauren Brasure and Becky Greene and sophomore Taylor Tubbs, the Gators ran away with the women's team title, besting runner-up Georgia Tech by 32 points. On the men's side, freshman Thomas Howell's fifth-place finish propelled UF to second place behind Georgia Tech.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
· Brasure broke the UF program 5K Golf Course record with her time of 16:45.93. The previous mark was held by Genevieve LaCaze, who ran a 17:05.09 in 2011 for the Gators. Greene also broke the UF 5K Golf Course record with her time of 16:55.93.
· Brasure's 5K time was the second-fastest time in the history of the Golf Course. Tennessee's Patty Wiegand holds the course record, running a 16:45.1 in 1990.
· Brasure ran the seventh-fastest 5K time in the history of Florida, while Greene ran the ninth-fastest time.
· Brasure's victory on Saturday was the first of her collegiate career. The freshman finished second at the Western Carolina Invitational in her first race of the season.
· In just two collegiate cross country races, Greene has finished in the top three both times.
· Brasure. Greene and Tubbs finished 1-2-3 for the second-straight meet. At the Western Carolina Invitational, Tubbs finished first with Brasure and Greene following in second and third, respectively.
· The Gator women have won both races they have competed in this season, previously winning the Western Carolina Invitational on Aug. 29.
· Tubbs' time of 17:07.57 set a new PR, besting her previous best by nearly 31 seconds.
· Redshirt junior Grace VanDeGrift, who finished 13th, set a new PR, bettering her previous mark by 28 seconds.
· Howell, who was running his first-career 8K, has finished in the top five in both his races this season.
· Redshirt sophomore Mac Reynolds followed-up his impressive season-opening victory at the Western Carolina Invitational with an 11th-place finish (24:56.41).
· The Gator men had three runners finish in the top-15, as redshirt junior David Kilgore, joined Howell and Reynolds.
· Five of the seven Gator men's runners set new personal bests.
UNATTACHED NOTES
· Mark Parrish, who has exhausted his cross country eligibility, but still has eligibility remaining in track, ran unattached on Saturday and claimed the men's individual title (24:04.78). He bested the second-place finisher by nearly 13 seconds.
· Senior Eddie Garcia also ran unattached and finished third (24:23.33)
RESULTS
| Gator Men (Complete Results) 8K | ||
| 5. (3) | Thomas Howell | 24:45.76* |
| 11. (5) | Mac Reynolds | 24:56.41* |
| 15. (8) | David Kilgore | 25:06.17 |
| 20. (12) | Elliot Clemente | 25:11.93* |
| 34. (23) | Austin Decker | 25:36.23* |
| 37. (24) | Mark Mutz | 25:41.98* |
| 44. (26) | Carlos Miranda | 25:50.10 |
| Team Top Five DI Finishers | ||
| 1. | Georgia Tech | 41 points |
| 2. | Florida | 51 points |
| 3. | North Florida | 60 points |
| 4. | Florida Golf Coast | 148 points |
| 5. | Kennesaw State | 148 points |
| Gator Women (Complete Results) 5K | ||
| 1. (1) | Lauren Brasure | 16:45.93* |
| 2. (2) | Becky Greene | 16:55.93* |
| 3. (3) | Taylor Tubbs | 17:07.57* |
| 13. (13) | Grace VanDeGrift | 17:51.11* |
| 16. (16) | Devin McDermott | 17:55.55* |
| 32. (32) | Macy Huskey | 18:23.29* |
| 75. (63) | Amber Johnson | 19:09.61 |
| Team Top Five DI Finishers | ||
| 1. | Florida | 35 points |
| 2. | Georgia Tech | 67 points |
| 3. | North Florida | 90 points |
| 4. | UCF | 117 points |
| 5. | South Florida | 124 points |
() Denotes D1 finish
*Denotes personal best
SPANGLER SPEAKS
On the women…
“Usually I am pretty good about what I think somebody can run, but I totally underestimated the women. They absolutely crushed it. For Lauren, Becky and Taylor to run that fast on this course is absolutely amazing. I am very pleased – very pleased.”
On Lauren Brasure…
“We kind of had a plan to go at a 17:10 pace. I was talking to Lauren during the week and she wanted to break 17 minutes, and I kind of just told her to run controlled, and she did. What she did on arguably not a fast course is special. She is something special.”
On the men…
“We have some work to do. Our two, three and four runners did not have a great race today. Those guys have got to get better. The guys did well, but we have some work to do if we want to reach our goals.”
On Thomas Howell…
“I thought Thomas Howell did a phenomenal job. As a freshman to come in and run 24 minutes is extremely impressive.”
-Florida assistant track and cross country coach Paul Spangler
UP NEXT
The Gators will take a break in competition until they compete at the Walt Disney Invitational in Orlando, Fla. on Oct. 11.
For all of the latest information on Florida cross country:
