Dogs Earn A Pair Of All-Region Honors At NCAA Regional

Friday, November 12

Huntsville, Ala.

TBA

University of Georgia

NCAA South Regional

Dogs Earn A Pair Of All-Region Honors At NCAA Regional

November 12, 2021 | Cross Country

Men's 10k Women's 6k

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. --- Georgia sixth-year senior Samantha Drop earned the fourth All-Region honor of her career and junior Sam Bowers had the best finish for the Bulldog men since 2015 to highlight the NCAA South Regional in Huntsville, Ala., on Friday morning.

Team Results: The Lady Bulldogs completed their 6k course at the John Hunt Park in 12^th place with 364 points to start the day.  Ole Miss (69) and Florida State (86) were the top two automatic team qualifiers.

The Georgia men finished 11^th (308) on the 10k course in the morning's second race.  As usual, this marked the Bulldogs' first 10k of the season after running a 6k and three 8k races to build up.  Ole Miss (68) and Alabama (79) were the top two teams who qualified for Nationals.

Individual Leaders: Drop picked up her fourth expected All-Region certificate with a 22^nd-place finish (20:27.61) at the Regional.  After taking 17^th as a freshman in 2016, Drop won the 2017 Regional and was fifth at the 2019 meet.  The 2020 season did not have a Regional because of the ongoing pandemic.

On the men's side, Bowers led the Bulldogs with a ninth-place finish (29:46.20).  Also topping his teammates at the meet in 2018 with a 46^th-place finish, Bowers registered the top finish for a Bulldog individual since Zack Sims was eighth to help guide UGA to a fourth-place finish in 2015.  This marked the first All-Region honor for Bowers in his career.

Punching A Ticket: The top two teams for each gender from each of the nine regions nationwide automatically qualify.  The top four individuals not on those qualifying teams also automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships.  Additionally, there will be 13 at-large team bids for each gender and two at-large individual bids for each gender that are expected to be announced on Saturday.

With automatic qualifier Alabama taking up three of the first nine spots and Florida State having the top two finishers, Bowers is expected to make the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which are in Tallahassee, Fla., on Nov. 20. There will be an NCAA selection show on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.

Cunniff's Comment: "I was very proud of how both teams competed today," said Bulldog head coach Patrick Cunniff.  "This was one of the most top-heavy Regional meets that I have seen since getting to Georgia 10 years ago.  Our front three on both teams set the tone and led their teammates.  Bowers was truly a warrior out there, scratching and clawing his way to what we believe will be an individual NCAA berth.  For Samantha to earn All-Region honors in just her second meet this year and for the fourth year of her career was a great way for one of the best Georgia cross country runners in history to finish.

"Sara (Bailey) gave everything she had as well, completing a true breakout season.  I am excited to see where her track season will take her.  I thought Anna Marian (Block) ran one of her best cross country races since she arrived at Georgia so I was proud of that effort.  (Michael) Hans and (Wesley) John are our captains and they showed why, running solid races that showed commitment to the race plan.  Cooper (Bocko) was a truly pleasant surprise as our No. 4 finisher and I thought he did an outstanding job today.

"Today I think we showed signs of what we are capable of if everyone buys in and works hard.  I am really excited to see where this younger group of runners can go in the future.  We are looking forward to great track seasons for all of this crew and more breakout performances to come.  For Bowers, we are now super pumped to see what he can do against the nation's best at Nationals since we are expecting him to get his first invitation to the meet."

The Lowdown: Surging 20 spots from where she was 1500 meters in, Drop concluded her final meet as her team's leader for the eighth time in her career.  This race officially finished Drop's brilliant cross career.  Posting two top-10 finishes at the SEC Championships during her career, the Durham, Conn., native was a four-time All-Region honoree, including winning the 2017 NCAA South Region as a sophomore.  The 2020 SEC Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year finished 20^th at the 2017 NCAA Championships for All-America honors, alongside her twin sister Jessica, and also advanced to Nationals in 2019.

Junior Sara Bailey, who was the Lady Bulldogs' top finisher at the first four meets this year, finished one spot out of All-Region honors.  Situated at 52^nd after a fourth of the race, Bailey moved up to 26^th and crossed the line in 20:40.36 during her first meet of this kind.

Senior Anna Marian Block became a Regional scorer for the second time in her career.  She trimmed three spots off her 2019 finish to take 59^th with a 21:25.87.  Georgia's final two scorers were only separated by a single finisher as sophomores Charlotte Augenstein and Sophia Baker made it into the Lady Bulldogs' top five.  Augenstein completed the course in 22:51.26 to take 135^th while Baker managed a 22:52.34 for 137^th in what was each of their first experiences at the Regional.

Bowers picked up right where Drop left off and slid into the field's top 10.  He finished as the sixth finisher not on one of the top two automatic qualifying teams in Ole Miss and Alabama.  This marked his return to the meet after redshirting in 2019 and not having a chance to run in the race in 2020 because of pandemic restrictions.

Sixth-year senior captain Michael Hans was the Bulldogs' second finisher for the third consecutive meet thanks to his 42^nd-place finish (31:08.57).  Hans was 91^st in 2017 and then scored by taking 60^th at his last Regional in 2018.  Junior Wesley John clocked a 21:43.84 and finished 68^th after being the Bulldogs' final scorer in 2019 at the meet. He finishes his third season by scoring at all five meets of the year.

Similar to the Lady Bulldogs, the Bulldog men's final pair of scorers were running at their first NCAA South Regional.  Freshman Cooper Bocko battled for a 32:06.77 to take 86^th in the 181-man field.  Fellow first-year runner Davis Potts wrapped up his final 2021 meet in 110^th place (32:53.60).  This marks the second time Bocko and Potts have scored in the red and black.

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

Team Scores
MEN – 10k (top 10)