LEXINGTON, Ky. – Brisk temperatures filled the air at the 2019 Southeastern Conference Championships on Friday morning, as the Gators endured a morning jam-packed with stiff competition in both the men's 8k and women's 6k races at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. The men's top five finished within the race's top-50, while six Gators notched new personal records, as
Jack Guyton led the team with a top-20 finish (17
th), notching the fastest 8k time in a Gator uniform since Mark Parrish in 2013, to finish sixth on the men's side.
Jessica Pascoe earned consecutive All-SEC First Team honors with a seventh-place finish in the women's 6k, though, the women's team would finish 11
th overall at the meet.
The Ole Miss men took the 2019 SEC Championship crown for the second consecutive year, while the Arkansas women won its eighth straight women's title.
The Florida men saw progress from last year's SEC meet, in which the team finished eighth overall, being able to take away some positives from the performance despite the finish.
Jack Guyton notched his best SEC performance in his career on Friday morning, emerging as the Gators top finisher from the 3k split on until the race's end, earning a new personal record with a collegiate-best time of 23:26.3. Guyton's performance marks the fastest 8k time out of any Florida runner since 2013, as he surpassed Mark Parrish's 2013 record of 23:34.0.
Redshirt junior
Colin Schaefer would run with Guyton for most of the race before tailing him after the 5k split to go on and finish within the top-30 (28
th) with a time of 23:50.2.
Trevor Foley was the next Gator to cross the line for Florida, running a strong race to finish just one second shy of matching his PR with a time of 23:55.8 to finish 31
st. Sophomore
Nick Deal and redshirt junior
Blake Lowery would round out the top five for the Gators, as Deal finished 41
st with a collegiate-best 8k time of 24:09.8, while Lowery notched his second highest finish of the season in 51
st place with a collegiate-best time of 24:21.1.
Additionally, freshman
Hugh Brittenham (58
th) saw a new personal record, finishing in 24:36.2, while
Marshall Dillon (79
th) and first-year
Caden Monk (93
rd) also tallied collegiate-best performances on the day with times of 24:59.6 and 25:30.8 respectively.
Jessica Pascoe was once again the bright spot for the Florida women on Friday morning, though, her four-meet individual title streak came to an end after finishing in seventh-place (20:15.4). The finish notched All-SEC First Team honors for the New South Wales native, as Pascoe also moves into seventh all-time in top-10 individual finishes with 15 in her career.
The Florida women fell behind early in the race, though, redshirt senior
Elisabeth Bergh and junior
Payton Capes-Davis would be the next Gators to cross the line within the top-60 for Florida, as Bergh (21:18.0) finished 39
th, while Capes-Davis (21:30.2) finished 54
th. Florida wouldn't see their last two top-five finishers up until freshmen
Pamela O'Brien and
Maria Fernandez would eventually cross the line in 81
st and 87
th-place respectively to conclude Florida's top five finishers.
THOUGHTS FROM ASSISTANT COACH CHRIS SOLINKSY:
- "Was a tough day for the Gators today. We have to pick ourselves up and learn from this experience so we do not repeat it going forward. We will be better in two weeks."
- "The men had an average day today, which is better than we were last year, but not quite what we are fully capable of. Jack [Guyton] had his best SEC meet to date and he found a way to live up to the Gator standard. It was great to see guys like Trevor [Foley] and Blake [Lowery] run tough today."
- "That's not who we are on the women's side. They've never got off the line and spent the whole race catching up. When you occupy the back of the race off the start, that's never a good place to start. Jess [Pascoe] had an off day today, but she can learn from this and be better from it. It's good to get Elisabeth [Bergh] back and healthy for Regionals and beyond."
THOUGHTS FROM JESSICA PASCOE:
- "SECs is tough. We came out here and everyone gave it their all and, if that's all we had today, that's all we had. We'll pick ourselves up, get back to work and get ready for the next two weeks with Regionals and Nationals where it really counts."
UP NEXT:
- The Gators return to the course for NCAA South Regionals, hosted by Florida State University, on Friday, Nov. 15. in Tallahassee.
Gators Men – 8k
Gators Women – 6k
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP MEET INFORMATION:
- Venue: Kentucky Horse Park
- Men's 8k Race: 12 teams, 110 runners
- 1. Ole Miss; 2. Alabama; 3. Arkansas
- Women's 6k Race: 14 teams, 145 runners
- 1. Arkansas; 2. Ole Miss; 3. Missouri
