Inside UF Cross Country’s Schedule Strategy

For a novice or an elite athlete in cross country, the strategy and goal setting at the University of Florida looks unique. This process begins with the team’s annual schedule. 

Unlike high school cross country or several other Division 1 programs across the country, UF’s cross country team keeps its schedule short. This season, there are only three meets on its schedule before the SEC Championships in late October in Columbia, Mo. 

A shortened schedule may create pressure for other athletes, but at UF, the schedule is built with its athletes in mind. 

Florida Associate Coach for Cross Country Will Palmer has served as one of the strategic minds behind UF’s schedule since joining the program four seasons ago from Alabama. After arriving at UF, he became known for his work with the distance runners, like Parker Valby who won five NCAA Individual Championships during her time with the Gators.

Collegiate cross country is different compared to many other sports because coaches must balance the team and individual aspects because there are championships available in both categories. 

“The first thing we look at is kind of who’s on our team, and you know how competitive we feel the team is as a whole on the conference and national scale,” Palmer said. “And then we try to make decisions about what meets we’re going to go to based on what they need to do to prepare to be at their best at the very end of the season.” 

Their athletes view this methodical decision making as one of the best aspects of UF’s coaching staff. Junior Reagan Gilmore, who won the SEC Championship with the team in 2025, said the coaches were one of the biggest reasons she chose UF. 

“I could see the intentionality behind what the coaches do for us here,” Gilmore said. “They’re really going to do what’s best for our bodies and what’s best for us when the real races come.” 

For these athletes, the “real races” are the SEC and NCAA championships when titles are awarded on the conference and national scale. As Palmer said, their goal as coaches is to ensure every athlete is at their peak when the season closes with these meets. 

Gilmore’s teammate and fellow junior, Josh Ruiz, felt this difference in his training coming to college. He said he first began running when he was around 5 years old, and grew in his passion over the years while running with friends at his high school Belen Jesuit in Miami.

Frequently, when discussing racing, he uses the word obsession. Whether it’s discussing training techniques or the physical mechanics behind running, he said he enjoys talking about every aspect of his sport.

“In high school, when you’re competing every single week, you’re not able to get those little weeks of training in when you can stack your mileage,” Ruiz said. “The difference is simple. You’re able to train more like an elite athlete.” 

Looking at the schedule for this season, the coaching staff has put together a series of races in which they think their athletes will be challenged while maintaining their individual training schedules. 

Palmer said he’s most looking forward to the Nuttycombe Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin on Oct. 9. He said this race is the one where the nation’s best teams compete each year and a good gauge for how far the team will go in the SEC and national meets. 

“That meet can be really good preparation for the national championship meet because you’re typically going to see like 60% to 75% of the NCAA qualifying teams,” he said. “So if you have athletes on your roster that you think are going to be running at the national meet, but maybe haven’t been at that meet before, sometimes it can be good to get them to dry run.”

Their reasoning behind this meet is to show runners their competition and who they may race against in championship meets. However, their trip to the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind.iana, on Sept. 19 serves a different purpose in their training. 

On Nov. 21, the NCAA Cross Country National Championship will begin at this very track in Terre Haute. By competing at the invitational hosted by the Indiana State Sycamores, the Gators get a chance to test the terrain before their final meet of the season.

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Cross Country