Thomas Howell and Lauren Brasure Pick Up Weekly SEC Cross Country Honors
Tuesday, September 23, 2014 | Cross Country
After exceeding the initial expectations of their coach and wowing the crowd with their performances at Saturday's Mountain Dew Invitational, a pair of Gator freshmen, Lauren Brasure and Thomas Howell, earned Southeastern Conference (SEC) weekly cross country accolades, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.
Howell was named SEC Men's Runner of the Week after placing fifth in the men's collegiate/open 8K with a time of 24:45.76. Having never run a competitive 8K before Saturday, assistant track and cross country coach Paul Spangler said he was blown away with the freshman's performance.
Just two races into his collegiate career, Howell, the 2012 Florida Gatorade Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, has finished in the top-five in both competitions – he took second at the Western Carolina Invitational on Aug. 29.
He becomes the first Gator to be named SEC Men's Runner of the Week since teammate Jimmy Clark earned the honor on Sept. 17, 2013. Howell becomes the first Florida men's freshman to earn the award since Phil Duncan in 2011.
Brasure was named SEC Women's Freshman Runner of the Week after a record-breaking day Saturday. The freshman from Ada, Mich., won the women's collegiate/open 5K in a meet record 16:45.93, breaking the old record by nearly 20 seconds set by former Gator and 2012 Olympian Genevieve LaCaze in 2011. Her finish helped propel the Gator women to their ninth Mountain Dew Invitational team title in the last 10 years.
Additionally, the freshman's time was the seventh-fastest 5K time in Florida program history. Having run in only two career races thus far, Brasure has already added a first-place and second-place finishes to her resume – she finished second at the Western Carolina Invitational.
Brasure is the first Florida women's freshman to win the award since Julie Macedo in 2012.
NEXT UP
The Florida women return to action Oct. 4 when the Gators travel to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. for the ultra-competitive Paul Short Run, which features some of the nation's best teams. The men return to competition Oct. 11 for the Walt Disney Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
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