The Florida women’s cross country team is one step closer to winning a national championship.
Rebecca Lowe won her second straight individual title Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Lowe, who finished in first place at the Southeastern Conference Championship two weeks ago, helped lead the No. 3 Gators to their first NCAA South Region title since 1998.
Lowe, who was named the SEC Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year last week, recorded the second-fastest 6K time in UF history as she clocked in at 20:03.29 at the regional meet.
Following right behind Lowe was junior Charlotte Browning, who came in second. Senior Stacey Johnson finished in fourth.
“We were confident and focused,” UF coach Todd Morgan said. “We are going to bring that into next Monday’s meet at the national championships.”
Six of the seven UF runners recorded personal-best times for a 6K course. Lowe, Browning and Johnson – as well as Genevieve LaCaze, Julie Northrup and Laura Garrow – earned All-South Honors.
UF record books were changed after the top five runners for the Gators – Lowe, Browning, Johnson, LaCaze and Northrup – all recorded the five best times for UF women for a 6K Regional meet. Previously, the top time for a 6K Regional meet was 21:00.78 from Lindsay Sundell in 2007.
In addition to Lowe recording the second-fastest 6K time in UF history, the records for spots three, five and nine were changed by Browning, Johnson and LaCaze, respectively. The top 6K time from Erin Merten in the 2001 SEC Championships still stands at 19:44.04.
After changing multiple 6K times in UF history books, the women’s team seeks to record something else that has never happened: winning a national title.
The highest a women’s team has ranked at the championship meet was in 1981 with a seventh place finish. In recent years, the women’s team has not cracked the top 10, with the best finish in 2007 at 11th place.
The team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.
