Cross Country To Play Host To SEC Championships

Friday, October 27

Athens, Ga.

TBA

University of Georgia

SEC Championships

Photo by: Caitlyn Tam

October 26, 2017 | Cross Country

ATHENS, Ga. --- For the first time since 2003, Georgia's cross country teams will welcome the league's other squads to Athens for the Southeastern Conference Championships that will be run on Friday morning.

What & When: Including the Bulldog men and women, 14 women's teams and 12 men's teams will meet at the UGA Golf Course for the men's 8k at 10 a.m. and the women's 6k at 11 a.m. The 16^th-ranked Georgia women join sixth-ranked Arkansas and 22^nd-ranked Ole Miss in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) top-30 women's poll. Sixteen-ranked Ole Miss and 27^th-ranked Arkansas arrive in Athens as the only men's teams that are ranked nationally.

An awards ceremony will follow the conclusion of the women's race. Admission to the SEC Championships is free and the public is welcome. Spectator parking is available at the Jack Turner Complex (soccer, softball) parking lot and there will be shuttles to the golf course.

Weather: Temperatures are expected to be in the mid 50s when the men's 8k starts and climb to the low 60s by the time the gun fires for the women's 6k. Sunny skies are expected for the duration of the morning.

SEC Championships Highlight Show: A one-hour SEC Cross Country Championships highlight show will air on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 12 p.m. on the SEC Network. Live scoring for the meet will be available at georgiadogs.com (cross country's "Meet Central" page) and at SECSports.com.

Georgia played host to the Bulldog SEC Preview at the UGA Golf Course on Sept. 9 and before that, the Bulldogs last competed on the golf course in 2007. UGA had one meet at the UGA Intramural Fields in 2008 and all of the meets between 2009-16 were on a course that curled around the UGA Equestrian Complex in Bishop.

Athens has been the site of the SEC Cross Country Championships three times since the meet began in 1935. Georgia played host in 1982 (men – fourth, women started SEC competition in 1983), 1991 (men – tied for fifth, women – second) and most recently in 2003 (men – second, women – second).

Who The Dawgs Are Lining Up: The 16^th-ranked Lady Bulldogs have entered seniors Addy Lippitt, Lauren Hovis, Allie Castro, juniors Hailey Branch, Grace Tavani, Caroline Dickey, sophomores Jessica Drop, Sam Drop, Yanely Gomez, Ansley Heavern, Tiffany Yue and freshmen Millie Bergey and Maddie Heller for the SEC meet. Each women's team can run 12 competitors.

The Lady Bulldogs are boasting their second national ranking of the season, marking the first rankings since 2012. This is their top ranking since checking in at 13^th in 2007.

The Georgia men entered seniors Bryan Kamau, Austin Sprague, Eric Westog, Jon Moses, Terrell Estime, junior Jeramey Hampton, redshirt sophomores Jonathan Pelham, Tyler Jones, Ryan Peppenhorst and redshirt freshmen Jack Bradley, James Gildard, Parker Nail, Michael Hans, Davis Stockwell and freshman Darr Smith for UGA's first postseason action. Each men's team can run 10 competitors.

Last Time Out: Georgia is coming off a trip to Louisville, Ky., for the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Oct. 14. Holding at the No. 25 spot, the Lady Bulldogs marched onto the same course that is used for the NCAA Championships and left with a sixth-place finish. Sam Drop led the squad for only the second time in her career (2016 NCAA South Regionals) and was 13^th while Jessica Drop finished 14^th.

The Bulldogs finished their final regular season meet in 17^th with Kamau crossing the finish line in 46^th place. Westog was the other Georgia men's runner to finishing in the top 100 with a 70^th-place finish.

FLASHBACK: 2016 SEC Championships: Last time at this meet, the Georgia men finished fourth with 149 points while the Lady Bulldogs scored 225 points and were 10^th. Kamau was the top Bulldog finisher for the men, taking 16^th. In fact, this marked one of six meets that he led UGA in 2016. Sprague (22^nd), Daniel Navarro (31^st), Sid Vaughn (32^nd) and Estime (59^th) also scored for the Bulldogs.

Like she did in the four regular season meets for the Georgia women, Jessica Drop took 14^th to be the first Lady Bulldog finisher and earned All-SEC Second Team and All-Freshman honors. Sam Drop was next across the line in 24^th for All-Freshman honors as well. Lippitt (63^rd), Ragsdale (74^th) and Gomez (78^th) rounded out the scorers for UGA last year in Fayetteville, Ark.

The Bulldogs' Best SEC Meets: Georgia has finished as the team runner-up at the SEC Championships a combined eight times. The Lady Bulldogs finished second in 1990, 1991, 2000, 2003 and 2006 while the Bulldog men earned runner-up honors in 1936, 2003 and 2012.

Individually, both Sarah Madebach (2007) and Kristie Krueger (2010) have tallied SEC titles for Georgia on the women's side.

Cunniff's Comments: "We are especially excited about playing host to the SEC meet, one that always has some of the nation's top teams and individuals competing in it," said Bulldog distance coach Patrick Cunniff, who has led the teams at his alma mater since 2012. "I am interested to see which of our kids thrive against the high-level of competition that we will see. This meet is a great measuring stick to see how we stack up against other of the country's best. We are hoping to take advantage of having this meet at home. We've made sustained progress during the regular season and now it's time to show what we are made of during the championship portion of the year."

The Lady Bulldogs have won three meets this year, finished third at the Paul Short Run and most recently topped nationally ranked squads for a sixth-place finish at Pre-Nationals.

"For the women, we are committed to running the same race we have been running and building on the confidence we have going," Cunniff said. "Our goal is to execute and be in one of the top positions when the race is over."

The Bulldog men, who are ranked 10^th in the latest USTFCCCA South Region poll, won the season-opening Bulldog SEC Preview at their home course and another regular season meet while also taking 12^th and 17^th at the Paul Short Run and Pre-Nationals, respectively, versus a variety of the nation's top programs.

"Our guys are hoping to take advantage of tapering. We are focusing of sticking to our race plan on a course that we know and finishing the race with a complete team performance."

Fall break for the University of Georgia also arrives on Friday as many of the students and staff make their annual trip to Jacksonville, Fla., for the football matchup between the Bulldogs and the Gators. Meanwhile, members from a variety of UGA Athletic Association staffs and beyond have prepared for the transformation of the UGA Golf Course into the UGA cross country course for weeks.

"Welcoming all of the teams from the SEC to Athens for this meet is a significant undertaking and our program is extremely appreciative to all of the staffs associated with the golf course and golf teams, the facility crew and our event management team," said Cunniff. "Without their immense help, we could not be able to pull something like this off."

Glimpse At The Rest Of 2017: Next up for Georgia will be the NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10. If they qualify, the Bulldogs will then prepare for the NCAA Championships in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 18.

Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack) or at georgiadogs.com.