University of Georgia Athletics
Saturday, November 20
Tallahassee, Fla.
TBA
University of Georgia
at
NCAA Championships
Photo by: Tim Doyle
Sam Bowers Finishes 206th at NCAA Championships
November 20, 2021 | Cross Country
Tallahassee, Fla. --- Junior Sam Bowers highlighted his first trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships with a 206th-place finish on the Apalachee Park Course in Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday morning.
Bowers ran a 31:15.4 on the 10k course during the second race of the morning with temperatures hovering in the low 60s. While BYU's Connor Mantz (28:33.1) won the individual national title, Northern Arizona (92 points), Iowa State (137) and Oklahoma State (186) rounded out the top three NCAA team finishers.
Bowers was making the first appearances at the cross Nationals for the Bulldogs since the team advanced and finished 31st in 2013. That year, Luke Baker was the top finisher with a 72nd-place finish.
Cunniff's Comments: "The NCAA cross country meet is an awesome race and it is also brutal," said Georgia distance coach Patrick Cunniff. "Sam was out well and fast with about 85 percent of the field. He was running very hard and battling. As the pace caught up with him, I was very proud of how hard he fought. Today was not his best day but this clearly was his best season and both his SEC and NCAA South Regional meets were outstanding. Having a man back at the NCAA meet was a great accomplishment for Sam and a seed for our program to work towards getting the full team back in the meet. Sam has a bright future, starting with the indoor season right around the corner."
Bowers qualified for Nationals after taking ninth at the NCAA South Regional in Huntsville, Ala., on Nov. 12. He registered the top finish for a Bulldog individual at the race 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.
The top two teams for each gender from each of the nine regions nationwide automatically qualified during the Regional weekend. The top four individuals not on those qualifying teams also automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships, which included Bowers.
With automatic qualifier Alabama taking up three of the first nine spots and Florida State having the top two finishers, Bowers punched his ticket to Tallahassee with the fourth and final automatic qualifying spot.
Next Up: The Bulldog indoor track and field season is scheduled to start on Jan. 14-15 at the Clemson Invitational in Clemson, S.C.
Keeping Up With The Dogs: Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack).
Bowers ran a 31:15.4 on the 10k course during the second race of the morning with temperatures hovering in the low 60s. While BYU's Connor Mantz (28:33.1) won the individual national title, Northern Arizona (92 points), Iowa State (137) and Oklahoma State (186) rounded out the top three NCAA team finishers.
Bowers was making the first appearances at the cross Nationals for the Bulldogs since the team advanced and finished 31st in 2013. That year, Luke Baker was the top finisher with a 72nd-place finish.
Cunniff's Comments: "The NCAA cross country meet is an awesome race and it is also brutal," said Georgia distance coach Patrick Cunniff. "Sam was out well and fast with about 85 percent of the field. He was running very hard and battling. As the pace caught up with him, I was very proud of how hard he fought. Today was not his best day but this clearly was his best season and both his SEC and NCAA South Regional meets were outstanding. Having a man back at the NCAA meet was a great accomplishment for Sam and a seed for our program to work towards getting the full team back in the meet. Sam has a bright future, starting with the indoor season right around the corner."
Bowers qualified for Nationals after taking ninth at the NCAA South Regional in Huntsville, Ala., on Nov. 12. He registered the top finish for a Bulldog individual at the race 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.
The top two teams for each gender from each of the nine regions nationwide automatically qualified during the Regional weekend. The top four individuals not on those qualifying teams also automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships, which included Bowers.
With automatic qualifier Alabama taking up three of the first nine spots and Florida State having the top two finishers, Bowers punched his ticket to Tallahassee with the fourth and final automatic qualifying spot.
Next Up: The Bulldog indoor track and field season is scheduled to start on Jan. 14-15 at the Clemson Invitational in Clemson, S.C.
Keeping Up With The Dogs: Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack).
Players Mentioned
Distance
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