Cross Country Begins Postseason At SECs

Friday, October 26

Auburn, Ala.

TBA

University of Georgia

SEC Championships

October 25, 2018 | Cross Country

ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia cross country teams traveled to Auburn, Ala., on Wednesday in preparation for Friday's Southeastern Conference Championships at the Indian Pines Golf Course.

When & Where: The Lady Bulldogs will compete in the women's 6k at 10 a.m. ET while the Bulldogs will run in the men's 8k at 11 a.m. Admission to the meet is free and open to the public.  This marks the first time since 2001 that Auburn has played host to the meet after the 2017 Championships were in Athens at the UGA Golf Course.

Results: Live results for the meet will be located at: gado.gs/ls.

Where To Catch The Meet Later On: A one-hour SEC Championships highlight show will air Sunday, Nov. 4, at 1 p.m. on the SEC Network.

Who Is The Competition: The 24^th-ranked Georgia women are one of three league teams ranked in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) top-30 poll who will be competing on Auburn's course, including fifth-ranked Arkansas and 26^th-ranked Ole Miss.  The Bulldog men, who are ranked 10^thin the latest South Region poll, will be squaring off versus nationally ranked Arkansas (20^th), Ole Miss (21^st) and Alabama (30^th), among other league squads.

Weather:Temperatures are predicted to be in the low 60s and rain is expected to be tapering off Friday morning after starting on Thursday.

What Dogs Are Competing: Georgia is expecting to have 20 runners competing at SECs.  On the women's side, seniors Hailey Branch, Grace Tavani, juniors Jessica Drop, Yanely Gomez, Tiffany Yue, Ansley Heavern and freshmen Skylar English, Anna Marian Block,Nicole Pachuta and Marisa Petit will represent the Red and Black.

Senior Daniel Navarro, juniors Tyler Jones, Jonathan Pelham, sophomores Jack Bradley, Michael Hans, Davis Stockwell, Nate Reichard, Darr Smith and freshmen Tyler Fox and Sam Bowers will take the course for the Bulldog men.

UGA traveled the 16 of the 20 listed to the Pre Nationals meet in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 13 during Georgia's last action on the course.

Cunniff's Quotes: "The course is in good shape and our teams are eager to race on it," said Georgia distance coach Patrick Cunniff.  "We have seen a number of these teams during this regular season and know that we will be facing some great competition.  I am excited to see how we stack up in this first postseason meet of the year."

Three of the five Lady Bulldog scorers from last year and two of the top five Bulldog men from 2017 return for this year's race.  Cunniff is hoping at least one of his team members is in one of the lead packs.

"We are hopeful that Jessica (Drop) will be up with the leaders and I think it is critical about the location of our fourth and fifth women.  I think our entire group can compete for those spots.  For the men, I think (Michael) Hans and (Sam) Bowers have to be in the mix for us to accomplish our goals.  Same as the women, we have a group of men who could all be in those last three spots.

"The success of Hailey (Branch) and Grace (Tavani) in the women's race and Jonathan (Pelham) and Tyler (Jones) in the second race is also important since this is our group of leaders and captains and they all have the potential to make a difference at this meet for us."

The Bulldogs' Best SEC Meets: Georgia has finished as the team runner-up at the SEC Championships a combined nine times, including the women taking second last year. The Lady Bulldogs finished second in 1990, 1991, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2017 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.

Last Time Out: Georgia last raced at Pre Nationals on Wisconsin's home course two weeks ago.  The Lady Bulldogs were ninth and the Georgia men took 27^that the meet.  For the third consecutive meet, Jessica Drop led her teammates after taking 11^thwith a time of 20:22.6.  Tavani was 47^th(21:09.9) to be not far ahead of Gomez (58^th– 21:21.5), which made up the top three scorers.  English continued her development with a 71^st-place finish (21:31.1) while Branch was 92^ndthanks to a time of 21:43.9.

Bowers topped his teammates for the first time after managing a 103^rd-place finish with a 25:05.4.  Hans, who was the Bulldog leader in the first three meets, was next across the line in 118^th(25:14.9) while Fox scored with a 169^th-place finish (25:46.8).  Reichard scored in his second meet of the year, taking 173^rdwith a 25:48.3, and Pelham completed the top five with a 177^th-place finish at 25:49.4.

FLASHBACK – 2017 SEC Championships: The Lady Bulldogs matched their top finish in history at the SEC Championships last year on their home course.  The Georgia women scored 88 points to finish second behind Arkansas.  The Bulldog men finished sixth with 143 points thanks in part to an All-SEC Second Team performance from senior Bryan Kamau.

On the women's side, Jessica Drop took fourth (20:17.1), which was the best finish for Georgia since 2012, and her twin sister Samantha Drop (redshirting in 2018) was fifth with a 20:19.8 to both grab All-SEC First Team honors.  Tavani was next across the line in 18^th(21:04.2) while Branch (29^th– 21:22.8) and senior Addy Lippitt (34^th– 21:37.7) rounded out the top five scorers.

For the men, Kamau led the Bulldogs for his 12^thmeet in a row bridging the 2016 season after clocking a 24:14.9 for 12^th.  Senior Austin Sprague also broke into the top 25 after recording a 21^st-place finish (24:32.1) and senior Eric Westog managed 29^th(24:46.2). Jones is a returning scorer after taking 32^ndlast year with a 24:50.8 as well as Hans, who crossed the line 52^ndwith a 25:19.0.

What's Up Next: This meet marks the first of hopefully three postseason meets for the Bulldogs.  The Lady Bulldogs will be gunning to qualify for two straight NCAA meets while the Georgia men are in search of their first berth since 2013 at the NCAA South Regional in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday, Nov. 9. The NCAA Championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 17 in Madison, Wis.

Keeping Up With The Dogs: Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack).