Valby Named SEC Women's Freshman Runner of the Year
Monday, November 22, 2021 | Cross Country
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a cross country season that encapsulates the Gator Standard, Parker Valby continues to add much deserved recognition to her career after a dominating freshman year.
Valby has been named SEC Women's Freshman Runner of the Year – an award that has only been won two times previously in program history – as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
The two previous Florida winners were Hilary White in 2000 when she placed 16th at the conference meet and Olympian Genevieve LaCaze in 2008 after finishing sixth.
This past weekend, Valby became the 13th Gator in Florida's history to claim an individual bid into the NCAA Championships, placing 27th in her nationals debut and receiving the program's 12th All-America honor. She also became the first Gator to ever run a sub-20 minute 6k at nationals.
So far in the season, Valby has posted three top-10 finishes, five personal records and five record book performances – breaking two school records in the process after running the top 6k times in program history at both the NCAA South Regionals and NCAA XC National Championship meets. She was also the top Florida finisher at every single meet this year.
Valby's accolades in the 2021 season:
Valby has been named SEC Women's Freshman Runner of the Year – an award that has only been won two times previously in program history – as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
The two previous Florida winners were Hilary White in 2000 when she placed 16th at the conference meet and Olympian Genevieve LaCaze in 2008 after finishing sixth.
This past weekend, Valby became the 13th Gator in Florida's history to claim an individual bid into the NCAA Championships, placing 27th in her nationals debut and receiving the program's 12th All-America honor. She also became the first Gator to ever run a sub-20 minute 6k at nationals.
So far in the season, Valby has posted three top-10 finishes, five personal records and five record book performances – breaking two school records in the process after running the top 6k times in program history at both the NCAA South Regionals and NCAA XC National Championship meets. She was also the top Florida finisher at every single meet this year.
Valby's accolades in the 2021 season:
- SEC Women's Freshman Runner of the Year
- First Team All-SEC
- SEC All-Freshman Team
- USTFCCCA All-South Region
- USTFCCCA All-American
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