Track and field head coach Mike Holloway exemplified the range of emotions for the Gators following their performance at the Southeastern Conference Championships on Friday.
“As extremely excited as we are for the women, we’re just as disappointed for the men,” he said.
The women's cross country team clinched the 2012 SEC Championship, winning their third in the past four years and sixth all-time. Senior Florence Ngetich finished second overall in the 6K, posting the sixth-fastest time in school history. Fellow All-SEC runners Agata Strausa and Callie Cooper rounded out the top three for UF's women, who finished nine points ahead of second-place Arkansas.
Shelby Davidson and Julie Macedo were named to the SEC All-Freshman team after each ran collegiate-best times. Coach Paul Spangler also became the first women’s cross country coach in Florida history to lead the team to an SEC Championship in his first season.
“They did a phenomenal job,” Spangler said. “The women came in with a belief they could win and they worked as a team, went out there, trusted their training and believed in themselves. It was really a total team effort and it was great to send the seniors out with a team win and All-Conference honors.”
Cooper, a senior, reflected on the team’s accomplishments after setting a personal-best time.
“I’ve had my goals on my bulletin board and I’ve really been trying to reach them,” she said. “To cap my senior year off with a win couldn’t be more special.”
Meanwhile, the men suffered a letdown, finishing in fifth place overall. Junior Mark Parrish, who finished seventh, was named an All-SEC First Team runner following the race.
Sophomores JL Hines and Jimmy Clark finished second and third for the Gators, coming in 22nd and 28th place.
Freshman Phil Duncan was named to the SEC All-Freshman team after setting personal bests in the men’s 8K. As a team, however, the men wound up 86 points behind first-place Arkansas.
“It was a tough day for the men,” Spangler said. “We came into this meet with high goals, but hats off to Arkansas and the other teams that finished ahead of us. It certainly wasn’t the finish we wanted.”
