Parker Valby Named SEC Women’s Runner of the Year

GAINESVILLE, Fla.- Florida Redshirt Sophomore Parker Valby was named SEC Women’s Runner of the Year by the Southeastern Conference (SEC) on Tuesday.

Valby’s season is one for the record books. She has competed in three races so far this season, placing first in all three and breaking records at each meet. Her three finishes this year now account for the first, third, and fourth fastest times in school history in the 6K. She holds four of the top six times in the 6K in school history.

In her first meet of the year at the Arturo Barrios Invite, she placed first with a time of 18:58.2. She finished 1:04.1 ahead of second placed Addie Engel from Ohio State who was named National Athlete of the Week earlier in the season. Valby’s performance was the second fastest 6K in school history at the time, just 3.22 seconds behind the first-place time.

At the SEC Championships, she took her performance to the next level. Valby ran an 18:25.87 in the 6K, the fastest 6K time ever recorded at a championship event which also broke the previous school record by 29.11 seconds. Her time was 7.8 seconds faster than Mercy Chelangat, the second-place finisher, who was a two-time defending SEC champion and finished top-2 at the NCAA Championships the past two seasons, including a national title in 2020.

This past weekend she competed at the NCAA South Regional where she once again dominated the field. Her first-place finish and time of 19:17.20 was 17.9 seconds ahead of the runner up and secured her a spot in the NCAA Championships.

Valby is the lone Gator left competing this season and will travel to the NCAA Championships on November 19 in Stillwater, Oklahoma in hopes of winning a National Championship.

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