Florida Gators
Mountain Dew Invitational
Florida Women Nab Second Consecutive Mountain Dew Invitational Title, Men Garner Runner-Up Honors
Saturday, September 19, 2015 | Cross Country
*Men's Results | Women's Results*
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men's and women's cross country teams hosted the Mountain Dew Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course on Saturday (Sept. 19) morning and came away with a pair of titles.
The Gator women had four of the top five Division I finishers, tallying 31 points, their lowest total at the MDI in their last four appearance, and notching a 55-point win—which amounted to their sixth-largest margin of victory since the program's home event was renamed in 2005.
This is the second consecutive year, and 10th time overall, Florida's women are the MDI champions.
Redshirt sophomore Becky Greene paced the Gators with a time of 17:21.82, only finishing second to an unattached runner. Right behind her, junior Taylor Tubbs (17:30.29), freshman Maria Larsen (17:39.27) and freshman Elisabeth Bergh (17:51.81) all recorded top-10 finishes.
On the men's side, redshirt senior Eddie Garcia was the first runner to cross the line. The Jacksonville, Fla. native clocked a time of 24:48.98 for his first collegiate victory. Garcia is the seventh male Gator to win the MDI's individual title.
Fellow redshirt senior Jimmy Clark (third), redshirt junior Mac Reynolds (sixth), and junior Carlos Miranda (10th) were all among the top 10 Division I finishers as well. Redshirt senior Charles Chambers (12th) rounded out the scoring for the Gators, who totaled 32 points, leaving them just one point behind team champion North Florida.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
· Jimmy Clark collected the 12th top-10 finish of his career, moving him into a four-way tie for the 10th-most in program history
· Clark also joined Mark Parrish as the only other Gator in history to record four top-10 finishes at the Mountain Dew Invitational
· Entering this weekend's meets, Eddie Garcia's time would've been the sixth-fastest 8,000-meter run by an SEC runner this season, while Clark's would've been the ninth-fastest
· Taylor Tubbs and Becky Greene are now two of seven Gators in history with multiple top-five finishes at the MDI
· Maria Larsen became the sixth Gator freshman to finish inside the overall top five at the MDI, while Elisabeth Bergh became the 10th Florida freshman to crack the overall top 10
· This is the second consecutive season, as well as the fourth time in five years, Florida's women had the top three Division I finishers at the MDI
RESULTS
| Gator Men – 8k |
| |
| Place | Runner | Time |
| 1. | Eddie Garcia | 24:48.98 |
| 3. | Jimmy Clark | 25:01.89 |
| 6. | Mac Reynolds | 25:27.76 |
| 10. | Carlos Miranda | 25:45.81 |
| 12. | Charles Chambers | 25:50.68 |
| 14. | Jack Guyton | 25:58.85 |
| 16. | Elliot Clemente | 26:03.22 |
| 19 | Jack Beitter | 26:13.82 |
| 21. | Seamus Love | 26:21.11 |
| 26. | Mark Mutz | 26:29.47 |
| 32. | Trey LaNasa | 26:51.78 |
| 38. | Bryce Statham | 27:17.87 |
| 48. | Jack Rogers | 27:59.47 |
| Men's Top Five Division I Teams |
| |
| Place | Team | Points |
| 1. | North Florida | 31 |
| 2. | Florida | 32 |
| 3. | Florida Gulf Coast | 96 |
| 4. | Troy | 153 |
| 5. | Florida Atlantic | 163 |
| Gator Women – 5k | ||
| Place | Runner | Time |
| 1. | Becky Greene | 17:21.82 |
| 2. | Taylor Tubbs | 17:30.29 |
| 3. | Maria Larsen | 17:39.27 |
| 5. | Elisabeth Bergh | 17:51.81 |
| 20. | Maddox Patterson | 18:32.98 |
| 24. | Delaney Tiernan | 18:44.96 |
| 25. | Julie Wollrath | 18:48.21 |
| 26. | Lauren Brasure | 18:49.01 |
| 37. | Gabrielle Yatauro | 19:05.49 |
| 47. | Meg Schloss | 19:22.25 |
| 62. | Emily Chapman | 19:40.20 |
| 104. | Madison Morse | 21:04.78 |
| 112. | Amber Johnson | 21:15.34 |
| 116. | Autumn Bartlett | 21:24.70 |
| 132. | Jenny Coleman | 23:27.94 |
| Women's Top Five Division I Teams | ||
| Place | Team | Points |
| 1. | Florida | 31 |
| 2. | North Florida | 86 |
| 3. | Florida Gulf Coast | 91 |
| 4. | Jacksonville | 114 |
| 5. | Florida A&M | 117 |
Note: All individual places indicate the runner's finish among Division I competitors
QUOTES FROM THE COURSE
Florida assistant cross country coach Paul Spangler on the women's victory: “I was really impressed with our top three and Elisabeth (Bergh), our fourth runner. They did a really good job of running relaxed up front and going over the last 800 meters. One of our goals was to get our fourth runner closer to our third, and we were 12 seconds behind. That's really important as we move on to the bigger races later in the year.”
Redshirt senior Eddie Garcia on his first collegiate victory: “This is very special to me. To do it at home, in my last Mountain Dew (Invitational, it was awesome. I'm very pleased with the performance, and I just have to make sure I'm keeping these guys motivated because we are very talented.
Spangler on Garcia's performance: “Eddie did a great job. Ever since winning the SEC (10,000 meters) title in track last year, he's just been a whole different runner. I was very proud of him. To come out here and win the Mountain Dew Invitational in dominant fashion, I was very, very pleased.”
Freshman Maria Larsen on the team's performance and Mountain Dew Invitational atmosphere: “I was very happy with the race. I was so happy with the team, because it's so important that we do well (at our home course), and that we prove the Gators are the best when we are at our home meet. It was nice to be here, running in our home meet; we would hear 'Go Gators!' all the time. I thought it was so much fun.”
SUCCESS IN THE MOUNTAINS
Representing New Zealand, Florida freshman Caitlin McQuilkin-Bell finished 25th overall at the 2015 World Mountain Running Championships, posting a time of 22:33 in the junior women's race (4,700 meters).
UP NEXT
Florida's next races are in two weeks. The Gators' top male and female runners will head to the Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 2) in South Bend, Ind., while a second contingent will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. for the Florida State Invitational.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
