Two more Florida runners will make the trip to Terre Haute, Ind.
Even though the women’s cross country team failed to secure a team bid to this weekend’s NCAA Championships, redshirt junior Cory McGee and redshirt senior Agata Strausa picked up at-large individual bids for the meet, the NCAA announced Saturday.
Both McGee and Strausa posted top-10 performances at the South Regional Championships Friday and earned All-South Region honors, leading Florida to a fourth-place finish out of 27 teams.
McGee led the Gators, finishing second on the Harry Pritchett Running Course with a time of 20:00.19, which topped her personal-best 6K by 35.46 seconds. Her time was the fastest regionals race by a Gator and the second-fastest 6K in Florida history.
“That was a huge race for Cory,” coach Paul Spangler said. “She came out (Friday) and proved why she’s one of the best runners in the country.”
Strausa crossed the line ninth out of 194 runners in the meet, finishing 26 spots higher than her 35th-place finish at last year’s South Regional Championships. Her time improved from last year’s regional meet by 44.03 seconds.
“Every race is just another chance to run even better,” Strausa said. “I’m excited to race every race as it comes.”
This is McGee’s third time and Strausa’s second time competing in an NCAA cross country Championship. McGee was the third Gator to finish and 163rd overall in the meet as a freshman in 2010.
Strausa finished 101st when she ran in the 2012 NCAA Championship, completing the 6K course in 20:48.6. Florida finished 23rd out of 31 teams that year.
The duo will make the trip to the Hoosier State with the men’s team, which clinched an automatic berth into the 2013 NCAA Championship race after finishing second in the South region on Friday.
Senior Mark Parrish and junior Jimmy Clark led the men in Tuscaloosa, Ala., finishing as the top two runners in the 173-competitor field.
Parrish finished the 10K race in 29:44.24. Clark finished just about five seconds later. Both notched personal records.
“I have been doing well in the 8K, but I wasn’t sure how it would translate this year in 10K,” Parrish said.
Added Spangler: “Mark threw down a move with about a mile and a half to go in the race, and that was a really great move in a difficult point of the race. … (And) with Jimmy finishing second and Florida going one-two — we couldn’t have asked for more.”
Florida also saw another breakout performance by junior Eddie Garcia. The Jacksonville native finished third for the Gators and ninth overall on Friday, running the 10K in a career-best 30:15.78.
Parrish, Clark and Garcia earned All-South Region honors at the meet, marking the second time Garcia was awarded the accolade and the third time Parrish and Clark were recognized with the honor.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126.
Cory McGee runs during the Southeastern Conference Championships on Nov. 1. McGee placed 16th in the race, as UF finished fourth.
