Parker Valby Shines for Gators Cross Country at SEC Championship

The Gators men’s and women’s cross country team competed in the SEC Championship in Oxford, Mississippi, Friday Morning. The men’s team placed 10th in the 10k with five runners finishing in the top-100. The women’s team placed fifth in the 6k with three runners finishing in the top-50.

Women’s SEC Champion

Gators redshirt sophomore Parker Valby finished first, securing an individual SEC Championship. Valby is coming off being named SEC runner of the week on Oct. 18. Valby ran a time of 18:25.7, beating the previous record by 29.08 seconds. The previous record of 18:55.0 was set by former Gator Jessica Pascoe in 2018. Valby’s time was good enough for a school record and SEC Championship record. With her time, Valby secured a spot in the Women’s National Championship meet on Nov. 19th in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Jordan Shapiro and Vasileia Spyrou also placed in the top 20 and this is the Gators’ highest finish at the event in four years. Shapiro placed 14th after recording a time of 20:08:68 while Spyrou placed 20th with a time of 20:30.59.

https://twitter.com/SEC/status/1586031393041428480

Men’s Results

The men’s team placed 10th out of 14 teams with a total of 294 points.

Cavan Wilson, Javi Vento and Aiden Villasuso were the top three runners for the Gators, finishing with times of 24:44.51, 25:15.12 and 25:16.62, respectively. After finishing first in the UCF invitational and second in the SEC preview meet, the Gators look to rebound in the SEC South Regional in Huntsville, Alabama, on Nov. 11.

https://twitter.com/GatorsTF/status/1586052803192967169