Cheruiyot Wins, Florida Programs Shine at SEC Cross Country Meet
Florida men’s and women’s cross country had strong performances at the SEC Championships in Columbia, Missouri, on Friday morning.
Sophomore Kelvin Cheruiyot claimed his second-straight individual SEC title in setting a course record of 22:03.1 (8K) to lead the Florida men’s team to a third-place finish with 82 points.
The Florida women finished in second place with 80 total points.
The Gator men haven’t placed this high at the SEC Championships since its second-place finish in 2013 on its home course in Gainesville.
Cheruiyot is the first UF runner to win back-to-back conference titles with a 5.16-second improvement from his time of 22:08.26 at last year’s meet.
He started the race in the 10 hole through the 1K mark and steadily moved through the pack as the race went on. He was able to push into third place, trailing Alabama’s Dismus Lokira and Ole Miss’s Kidus Misgina at 6K before jumping into the lead at the 7K. The last kilometer was smooth sailing, as Cheruiyot coasted through the line in first place at the finish.
The second runner across the line for the men was freshman Eliud Muchiri in 11th place with a time of 22:40.5. He was the fourth overall freshman to the line. He started the race in 26th place at the 1K and passed 15 runners throughout the rest of the race. He moved eight spots in the final 2K of the race.
Junior Josh Ruiz, senior Geofrey Ronah and sophomore Oussama Allaoui all finished within 8.3 seconds of each other, crossing the line in 22nd, 23rd and 25th, respectively. Junior Jonathan Leon rounded it out for the Gator men, finishing in 30th place with a time of 23:20.4.
Junior Judy Chepkoech led the UF women, finishing in fourth place with a time of 19:00.7 (6K). She crossed the 1K in 28th place before moving up 24 spots throughout the race. Shortly behind her in sixth place was sophomore Claire Stegall with a personal-best time of 19:02.4.
Sophomore Desma Chepkoech finished 16th in 19:21.3 and freshman Maggie McCormick closed out Florida’s scorers by finishing 23rd with a time of 19:50.4. McCormick climbed 20 places throughout the race, coming through the 1K in 43rd place. She picked off four runners in the final 1K to move from 27th to 23rd.
The Florida women saw six other runners compete, including Isobelle Jones, Caroline Jepchirchir, Reagan Gilmore, Keeghan Edwards, Mary Nesmith and Ashley Fitzgerald.
Alabama won the men’s and women’s titles.
The Gators will next compete in their home state for the first time this season on Nov. 13 at the NCAA Cross Country South Regional Championship in Tallahassee.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Cross Country
