While he will not run as part of Florida’s cross country team on Saturday, senior Mark Parrish looks to continue the success he saw at UF when he competes independently at the 26th Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville.
Parrish, who exhausted his four years of cross country eligibility last year, will be noticeably absent for a deep Florida squad that aims to repeat on the years of success they’ve seen at their lone home meet of the season.
Coach Paul Spangler is just happy to see Parrish back out there, even if it is not with his men’s team — a team that has claimed the team title nine times out of the last 10 years at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
"With the collegiate system, you can race unattached,"Spangler said.
"And a lot of athletes will do that, even if they’re redshirting or if they’re post-collegiate, which is why Mark can compete."
Parrish has only improved as his career progressed.
He broke the school’s 8k record at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, stopping the clock at 23:34, one second faster than the mark set by Jeremy Criscione in 2008.
He broke his personal best 10k at the 2013 NCAA South Region Championships with a time of 29:44.24 and was crowned the NCAA South Region Cross Country Champion, a first for the program since Steve Zieminski carried home the award in 2004.
And he has not slowed down.
"Mark Parrish has looked phenomenal in practice," Spangler said.
"He looks the fittest I’ve ever seen him."
And while Spangler wants nothing but success for Parrish, it is clear that the coach is focused on the training his current runners are doing.
Redshirt sophomore Mac Reynolds, determined to improve on a solid freshman campaign, opened the season strong by winning his first collegiate race at the Western Carolina Invitational on Aug. 30.
With his previous highest finish being fourth with 15:31.60 at the FLRunners.com 5k last year, Reynolds eclipsed that mark by nearly 18 seconds in Cullowhee, N.C., with a time of 15:13.75.
"I’m very pleased with the job Mac did, he’s somebody who came in here as a freshman and worked extremely hard every single day," Spangler said.
"We saw a little bit during track season, him starting to break through to the next level, and now we are starting to see the results of his hard work with much more consistent performances."
For the women’s team that finished third at last year’s Mountain Dew Invitational, improvement will be expected for the young team.
The Gators are without their two runners who finished in the top six last year: Agata Strausa, who graduated, and then-sophomore Julie Macedo, who is away from the team this year for personal reasons.
Instead, the team will rely on dynamic performances from freshman Lauren Brasure, redshirt freshman Becky Greene and sophomore Taylor Tubbs.
Tubbs and redshirt junior Macy Huskey were the only two Gator women still on the roster to finish in the top 20 at last year’s Mountain Dew Invitational, coming in 13th and 17th, respectively.
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Mark Parrish runs in the Mountain Dew Invitational on Sept. 14, 2013, on UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
