University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Cross Country Sets Sights On Another NCAA Invite
November 13, 2014 | Cross Country
Check out this Cross Country NCAA Regionals Preview
Nov. 13, 2014
ATHENS, Ga. --- Georgia's cross country teams made the trip to Tallahassee, Fla., on Wednesday in anticipation for Friday's NCAA South Regional Championships as the teams try for invites to the NCAA meet.
The women's 6K race at the Apalachee Regional Park is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Friday morning. The gun will fire for the men's 10K at 10 a.m. The Lady Bulldogs are ranked 11th in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) South Region poll while Georgia is 14th on the men's side after winning the 2013 title.
The two top teams from each of the nine regions will automatically advance to the NCAA meet. Individually, the top four finishers who are not on a qualifying team (automatic or at-large) will also receive an invitation to Nationals. In addition, there will be 13 at-large team bids for each gender and one at-large individual bid for each gender.
The Bulldog men have advanced to a school record three NCAA Championships and are in search of another invite. The Lady Bulldogs are driving for their first trip to Nationals since the 2012 season.
"The important thing for this meet is to run our very best and that's all that matters," said Bulldog distance coach Patrick Cunniff. "We're not worried about getting to Nationals or making up for SECs. We are looking to run our very best and have as many of our 14 runners (two alternates make up the 16 total) run the very best race of their lives."
Since Cunniff arrived before the 2012 season, Georgia has made a pattern of peaking during the postseason. His teams have made a combined three appearances at the NCAA Championships over the last two seasons.
"Two keys for both teams peaking at this point in the year the last couple of seasons is always talking about Regionals and setting the idea that we always want to be a team that is at the NCAA Championships," Cunniff said. "We know this is a do or die meet to get to Nationals so we always have a little bit of psychic energy in the bank waiting to pull it out for that day, and I hope we do it again on Friday."
Cunniff traveled eight men and eight women for Friday's meet. For the men, juniors Michael Giuliano, Steven Spevacek, redshirt sophomores Jimmy Hicks, Morgan Malanoski and freshmen Ryan Brock, Bryan Kamau, Daniel Navarro and Eric Westog will be representing Georgia.
Only one of the Bulldog men traveling has competed at the Regional Championships in the past. Spevacek finished one spot out of scoring for Georgia after taking 35th overall with a 10K time of 20:57.65.
The Lady Bulldogs included on the team's second postseason trip are senior Marrion Kalafut, junior Ann Centner, redshirt sophomores Victoria Coppage, Lauren Kelly, redshirt freshman Morgan Green and freshmen Allie Castro, Addy Lippitt and Tayler Tuttle.
This will be the first trip to Regionals for any of the Georgia women except one. Kalafut ran at last year's NCAA Regionals and clocked a 22:06.46 for 107th place.
"Friday will be the proof of that, but I think we have made some dramatic steps forward as a program," said Cunniff. "We are laying the foundation to go along with some of our experienced runners who are training very well right now to get ready for track and together all of those will make a great cross country team in the future.
"You look at Tayler Tuttle coming in and finishing in the top 30 as a freshman. You look at Lauren Kelly who had just come back to the team at this time last year and now she's a strong No. 2. You look at someone like Bryan Kamau who is a completely raw freshman and is moving into our No. 2 spot and earning All-SEC Freshman honors. And finally someone like Steven Spevacek who has developed long-term in the program, who was the alternate last time we were in Tallahassee for this meet and is now our No. 1 runner who has the potential to even get to Nationals as an individual. Those are all pieces that are going to spell a lot of success in the future. If the young runners on this team follow the path of Spevacek, there are great things to come."
The Bulldog men accomplished a feat last year that had not been done since 2003 for UGA. The team in red and black captured the NCAA South Regional title, which clinched the Bulldogs a school record third consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. The victory came in thrilling fashion as Georgia edged Florida 72-73 for the crown.
Luke Baker (fourth), Brandon Lord (seventh) and Charlie Sparks (10th) all made the best out of their last trip to Regionals while Zack Sims (redshirting in 2014) gave Georgia a fourth top-20 finisher. Brendan Hoban, who is also redshirting this season, was the fifth and final scorer for the Bulldogs.
More importantly, Hoban finished one spot ahead of the Gators' John-Logan Hines to help lock down the UGA win. Spevacek was next across the finish line for the Bulldogs in 35th.
The Lady Bulldogs scored 175 points to finish sixth in a team race that had the third and sixth-place teams separated by only 32 points. Like Baker, Lord, Sparks and Sims, Carly Hamilton earned All-Region honors after taking 15th overall in the 6K showdown. Hamilton is redshirting the 2014 season along with fellow scorer Erika Ramsey, who was fifth for Georgia and 57th overall.
Nicole DiMercurio also grabbed the final All-Region spot with a 25th-place finish as Bret McDaniel was 38th. Stella Christoforou also put points on the board for Georgia after crossing the line in 51st place.
Full results and a recap from Friday's NCAA South Regional Championships will be located at georgiadogs.com . Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country program can always be found on Twitter ( @UGA_XCTF ).
