JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Florida women's cross country team would repeat last year's success at North Florida on Friday morning, earning a season-opening victory as Imogen Barrett, Payton Capes, Grace Blair, and Pamela O'Brien would secure 1-2-3-4 finishes to start the year. The men saw three top-10 finishes in Nick Deal, Hugh Brittenham, and Jack Guyton, though, they would come up short in the three-mile race.
The Gators started the year on the right foot, as all runners on the women's side would finish inside the top-10 in the two-mile race.
Sophomore Imogen Barrett led the way for the Gators with a top time of 11:15.26, as junior Payton Capes-Davis would finish runner-up shortly after with a time of 11:21.25 in her Gators debut. Grace Blair (11:32.66) and Pamela O'Brien (11:35.32) followed behind in third and fourth place respectively before Madison Morse (11:39.00) rounded out the top-five runners with a sixth-place finish. Freshman Emily Culley secured a seventh-place finish in her first race a Gator, while sophomore Sophie Piniella finished right behind in eighth to close out Florida's top-10 finishers.
Additionally, freshmen Maria Fernandez and Gianna Forte earned top-15 finishes in their Gators debut, crossing the finish line at 12th and 13th-place.
On the men's side, Florida came runner-up to North Florida behind top-15 finishes from all five scoring runners.
Redshirt sophomore Nick Deal finished with the top time for the Gators, clocking 14:55.00 to earn second in the race.
Redshirt sophomore Nick Deal
After UNF would bring in a 3-4-5-6 finish, freshman Hugh Brittenham secured his first top-10 finish as a Gator with a seventh-place time of 15:11.00. Jack Guyton would then cross the finish line in ninth place, as Trevor Foley and Blake Lowery concluded UF's top-five with 11th and 14th-place finishes respectively.
Thoughts on the race from Assistant Coach Chris Solinsky:
"Women were who I knew we were. We're starting right where they left off last year. Imogen [Barrett] ran a strong controlled race in showing signs of a big year. Payton [Capes] showed off all the hard work she has put in and is going to be a big contributor for us."
"The men had some good lessons today. Nick [Deal] ran tough and competed well individually and the freshman Hugh [Brittenham] competed hard. We have to be better than today and we will. Now we get back to work and get ready for the Mountain Dew Invite in two weeks."
Up Next:
Florida will compete again in two weeks, when it hosts the Mountain Dew Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville. Race day is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 14.
%20(1).png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
