University of Georgia Athletics
'High Hopes' For UGA Going Into NCAA Regional
November 10, 2016 | Cross Country
The Cross Country team has twins on the team (the Drop sisters), so as we kick off NCAA regionals Friday, be sure to watch this fascinating video in its entirety.
ATHENS, Ga. --- The Bulldog cross country teams made the trip to Tallahassee, Fla., on Wednesday in anticipation for Friday's NCAA South Regional.
When & Where: The Lady Bulldogs will face their competition in the 6K (6,000 meters) showdown at 8:30 a.m. at the Apalachee Regional Park. The Georgia men will then run in their first 10K (10,000 meters) of the season at 9:30 a.m.
Live results: http://gado.gs/6mf
What's At Stake: The NCAA South Regional meet signals the point in the season where Georgia and the other contenders have to finish near the top to continue their 2016 campaigns. The top two teams (each team can compete seven runners and score five) for each gender from each of the nine regions and the top four individuals not on those teams automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 19.
Additionally, there are there will be 13 at-large team bids for each gender and two at-large individual bids for each gender.
The Bulldog men advanced to a school record three NCAA Championships between 2011-13 and are in search of a return to Nationals. The Lady Bulldogs are driving for their first trip to the NCAA meet since the 2012 season.
The 2010 season marked the last time a Georgia individual earned a ticket to Nationals. Kristie Kruger finished 28th at the NCAA Championships after winning the South Regional.
Weather: Temperatures are expected to range from the 50s to the upper 60s on Friday morning in Tallahassee under mostly sunny skies.
Traveling For The Bulldogs: The Georgia men and the Lady Bulldogs will run seven apiece on Friday morning. For the Bulldog men, seniors Morgan Malanoski, Sid Vaughn, juniors Bryan Kamau, Daniel Navarro, Austin Sprague, Eric Westog and redshirt sophomore Terrell Estime will represent the Red and Black.
Juniors Morgan Ainslie, Addy Lippitt, Kate Northrop, Bre Ragsdale, freshmen Jessica Drop, Sam Drop and Yanely Gomez will be available for the Bulldogs on the women's side.
Been There, Done That: Five Bulldog men and three Lady Bulldogs have run at previous NCAA South Regionals. Vaughn, Kamau and Malanoski are preparing to run at their third Regional meet. Vaughn is aiming to score at his second meet of this kind while Kamu, who was an All-Region performer in 2015, and Malanoski are in search of their third scoring effort at the meet. Navarro is running at his second Regionals and is trying to score for the second time and Westog is making his second appearance and attempting to break into the scoring column for the first time.
Lippitt (2014), Ainslie (2015) and Northrop (2015) have all run at Regionals before and both Lippitt and Ainslie have scored for the Lady Bulldogs.
Cunniff's Comments: "Like we do each season, we are approaching this meet with excitement and anticipation," said Bulldog distance coach Patrick Cunniff. "Every year that we start, we mark the calendar for this meet and do our best to build to our last guaranteed meet, and everyone knows that this meet is the gateway to getting to the next meet. Advancing to Nationals has been and will always been the central goal of our program. I have high hopes for great things from both teams on Friday."
The men have run in five 6K races leading up to their first 10K, including their fourth-place finish at the SEC Championships. The Georgia women started with a pair of 5K races before running on a trio of 6K courses, including their 10th-place finish at SECs.
"The training for the men all year long sets them up to peak at the distance of 10,000 meters now, which will carry over to NCAAs if they advance," Cunniff said. "I think the women's 6K course sets up well for our young team that races with pretty good speed."
Vaughn has tasted a South Regional team title after he and his teammates ran and brought the 2013 crown back to Athens. His experience mixed with the 2016 performances of Kamau and others has Cunniff optimistic that his squad could earn a spot at Nationals.
"We go into this meet on the men's side optimistic of earning a team berth," said Cunniff. "Kamau has been a great No. 1 for us and should be able to run with anyone in the region. Our next three guys are also capable of finishing in the top 10 or 15."
Jessica Drop earned All-SEC Second Team and All-Freshman honors two weeks ago by taking 14th while Sam Drop was 24th for All-Freshman honors. Cunniff believes this two could advance to the NCAA meet and his hoping all of his women's team peaks at the appropriate time.
"I am aiming for the best performance of the season from the women, hopefully exceeding the preseason and current regional rankings," explained Cunniff. "Jessica and Sam are two of the best in the South Region and really anything is possible with those two."
Rankings: The Bulldog men are ranked fourth in the South Region going into the meet while the Georgia women are holding down the 12th spot. In the preseason poll, the Bulldogs were sixth and the Lady Bulldogs were 10th.
Currently, Ole Miss leads both South Region polls. Last year, meet host Florida State won the team title in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Vanderbilt has won the last two years on the women's side.
Last Time Out: Georgia last stepped on a cross country course at the SEC Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., on Oct. 28. The men left the Razorbacks' campus with a fourth-place 8K finish thanks to 149 points. The UGA women scored 225 points and were 10th in their 6K race.
Kamau led the Bulldogs for the fifth consecutive meet, narrowly missing on All-SEC Second Team honors (top 14) with a 16th-place finish. As he had for the three meets before, Sprague was second for Georgia in 22nd place during his first SEC meet.
The Bulldogs' 3-4 finishers came across the line back-to-back with Navarro taking 31st to continue his late season surge and Vaughn taking 32nd. Estime pushed through to be the fifth and final scorer with a 59th-place finish.
Similar to Kamau, Jessica Drop continued to lead her teammates with a 14th-place finish for All-SEC Second Team and All- Freshman honors. Twin sister Sam was 24th to also bring SEC All-Freshman honors back to Athens. Lippitt, who will be returning to Regionals for the first time since 2014 after running in only one meet last year, was 63rd at the league meet.
A pair of newcomers comprised Georgia's final two scorers. Junior transfer Bre Ragsdale crossed the line in 74th place while true freshman Yanely Gomez scored for the fourth time with a 78th-place showing.
FLASHBACK - 2015 NCAA South Regionals: After taking fifth at the 2015 SEC Championships, the Bulldog men finished fourth (127) at the NCAA South Regionals and have three scorers returning. The Lady Bulldogs took 10th (364) at last year's meet and are returning two of five scorers.
Kamau was one of two All-Region finishers for the Bulldogs (Zack Sims, 8th) after having a career-best finish of 17th. Steven Spevacek took 26th in his final collegiate cross meet while Vaughn had the best showing of his career at Regionals taking 33rd.
Malanoski completed the Bulldog scorers with a 44th-place finish.
Victoria Coppage led the Georgia women at last year's meet thanks to a 53rd-place finish. Lauren Kelly was the next Lady Bulldog finisher after taking 70th and Ainslie crossed 11 spots later in 81st to be the third scorer.
Allie Castro (85th) and Morgan Green (92nd) completed the scoring five for the Lady Bulldogs in 2015.
News On Bulldog Cross Country/Track & Field: Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack).
