The Florida men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the NCAA South Regional at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee Friday. A combined 214 runners from 31 schools competed in the women’s race with the men’s race including 26 schools with 179 runners.
Coming off a third place finish in the SEC Championships, the UF women’s squad kept its postseason momentum. The Gators finished No. 2, automatically securing the women’s team a spot in the NCAA Championships next week.
UF junior Hilda Olemomoi led the Gators the entire race, earning a No. 1 finish with a time of 19:30.6. Olemomoi has competed in three meets this season, making her debut in the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals. She has finished in either first or second in each race.
The next runner to cross the finish line for the Gators was junior Tia Wilson, finishing the 6k with a 20:16.4 time for a 12th place finish. Followed closely behind Wilson was UF senior Allison Wilson, who finished No. 15 with 20:20.9 time, and Florida redshirt junior Beth Morley, who finished No. 16 with a 20:21.0 time.
The Gators men’s squad finished strong taking ninth place in the 10k. UF senior Ethan Geiger took the No. 12 spot with a 30:19.1 time. Greiger earned the best individual placement in a regional for UF’s men’s squad since 2015.
The next Gator to cross the finish line was junior Matthew Mule with a 31.22.0 time in 48th, followed by Florida junior Michael Fiore in 54th with a 31:28.0 finish.
The women’s squad will next travel to Madison, Wisconsin, for the NCAA Championship Nov. 23.
Contact Rae Weinstein at rweinstein@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @raefweinstein.
Rae Weinstein is a sophomore majoring in political science. Fall 2024 is her first semester with The Alligator as Cross County Reporter and in her free time she enjoys reading, watching the NY Mets and playing field hockey.
