After winning last year’s Southeastern Conference title, Florida’s women have not wavered.
In their 2013 season debut, the Gators swept the top five spots in a field of 104 racers on Friday at the Western Carolina Invitational in Cullowhee, N.C.
Seniors Agata Strausa and Shelby Hayes finished first and second with times of 10:52.29 and 10:56.82, respectively. The win in Cullowhee is Strausa’s second in her career — her last victory came in Gainesville at the 2012 Mountain Dew Invitational.
Sophomore Julie Macedo, freshman Taylor Tubbs and senior Stephanie Strasser rounded out the top five of the women’s two mile run.
Macedo, Hayes and Strasser all bested their marks from last year’s Western Carolina Invitational. All five women finished within 20 seconds of each other on Friday.
“I thought the women came out and did a great job tonight, especially working together as a team throughout the duration of the race,” coach Paul Spangler said Friday. “Agata, Shelby, Julie, Taylor and Steph all finished as a pack claiming the top five spots.”
Florida’s men also won their 5K run thanks to senior Mark Parrish’s ninth career Gators victory, posting a time of 14:50.06.
Florida had four men finish in the top six. Junior Jimmy Clark came in third with a time of 15:04.22, junior Eddie Garcia placed fourth with a time of 15:14.67 and junior J.L. Hines came in sixth with a time of 15:23.11.
“Mark Parrish looked very impressive,” Spangler said. “I was also impressed with Eddie Garcia. We had a very solid effort on the men’s side, placing our first four scorers in the top six in the field.
“Both teams came out tonight and really did a good job. With the Western Carolina being our first meet of the season, we’ll need to continue to build on this and keep working hard. We have a lot of important racing on the horizon and we’ll continue to improve as the season progresses.”
This year marks the third consecutive season Florida opened the season at Western Carolina. It is also the third straight year that both the men’s and women’s teams began the season by earning victories.
With a week to train, the Gators are set to compete in front of their home crowd on Sept. 14 at Mark Bostick Golf Course for the 2013 Mountain Dew Invitational. Compeition begins at 7:55 a.m.
“This race was a great gauge for where we are at to begin the season,” Spangler said.
“Now we have two weeks before our next race to train. We’re looking forward to being on our home course in front of all our Gator fans for the first of two home races this season, the second being SECs in November.”
Follow Gordon Streisand on Twitter @GordonStreisand.
Florida runner Cory McGee competes in a 2011 race. UF cross country's season began with the Western Carolina Invitational on Friday.
