.png)
TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): #23 Florida Gators
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Aug 10, 2024
- 7 min read
NOTE: Earlier this summer, The Stride Report reached out to nearly every team that was considered for a possible ranking this summer. While we did receive numerous responses and great clarity, we did not get a 100% response rate. On certain occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
Within the span of one offseason, the Florida women went from being a cross country afterthought to a program that was arguably favored for a podium spot.
That, of course, was because Coach Will Palmer had taken over the lead distance duties for the Gators after leaving Alabama earlier that year. Along with the introduction of Palmer eventually came the arrival of multiple distance stars from the transfer portal such as Flomena Asekol, Amelia Mazza-Downie, Elise Thorner and Allison Wilson (a still-rising distance talent).
When paired with superstar Parker Valby, you can see why this team was viewed as one of the more fearsome distance contingents in the entire NCAA.
Sure, Florida didn't end last fall on the podium. Even so, last fall was more about making a statement to the rest of the country, effectively relaying that this traditional track and field power can also be a force on the grass.
Now, as we enter 2024, Coach Will Palmer will be tasked with keeping the Florida women in the national conversation while simultaneously rebounding from a crushing series of departures.
* * *
The Florida women didn't initiate their first true test of the 2023 cross country season until the Nuttycombe Invite, a massive nationally competitive stage. That would be the first time that we got to see a completely revamped Gator roster in action.
Sure enough, the results were plenty impressive.
Parker Valby dominated the individual battle, pulling away from Katelyn Tuohy with relative ease en route to a massive win. But whether Valby got 1st place or 2nd place largely didn't matter -- we fully expected that she would be an elite-caliber low-stick.
Instead, it was the rest of the team that we really wanted to see.
Flomena Asekol (16th) was absolutely fantastic in her first race in a Gator singlet while Elise Thorner (30th) mostly delivered on the fringe All-American talent that she had previously shown us in the past. However, it was Allison Wilson, the rising distance runner from Alabama who truly stole the show. Relative to expectations, Wilson was outstanding, grabbing an incredibly clutch 38th place finish.
Unfortunately for Florida, Amelia Mazza-Downie wasn't in their lineup as she was rumored to be recovering from an injury. That, in turn, led to the Gators' fifth scorer settling for 180th place overall.
But in the end, the UF women would settle for a still-excellent 5th place finish.
Following that result, Florida entered the SEC XC Championships as the somewhat clear favorites to win the team title. While schools like Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Tennessee had shown plenty of promise, those teams weren't able to match the overwhelming scoring value when the Gators' fielded their complete top-five.
Valby (1st), Asekol (4th) and a returning Mazza-Downie (8th) were each fantastic, giving Florida the best top-three in the field. Thorner (17th) and Wilson (19th) did enough to ensure that the Gators won with relative ease, although we did think that both women were capable of cracking the top-15.
Regardless, things were looking good for Florida. Nearly all of their low-stick stars were consistently holding their own and Mazza-Downie had rebounded beautifully after delaying the start to her season. And after cruising through the South regional meet, the Gators would toe the line on the national stage gunning for a podium spot.
In her season finale, Valby would win the individual national title with ease. Flomena Asekol, meanwhile, had arguably the best race of her career up-and-to that point with an incredible 6th place All-American finish!
But after those two women, the scoring potency of Florida's lineup began to exponentially deteriorate. Allison Wilson was still awesome after placing 49th, but Elise Thorner fell a bit further out of All-American contention than we expected to see. And unfortunately, with Mazza-Downie recording a DNF, the Gators didn't have anyone else crack the top-200 of the overall results.
That, in turn, led the Gainesville-based women to a 5th place team finish, just 31 points off from a spot on the podium.
* * *
Let's not beat around the bush: This year's version of Florida's cross country lineup won't look anything like what you saw last year. That, of course, is because nearly all of their juggernaut low-stick standouts are no longer with the team.
Parker Valby? Gone.
Flomena Asekol? Gone.
Elise Thorner? Gone.
Amelia Mazza-Downie? Gone.
And if you are someone who read our above recap of last year, then you know that those four women made up 80% of Florida's scoring in 2023.
So...how on Earth are the Gators still ranked?
Truthfully, it would be a fairly significant stretch to expect this year's Florida group to be a legitimate threat for the podium. And yet, despite their major losses, Coach Will Palmer has seemingly found a way to patch together a team that will at least remain nationally competitive in some way, shape or form.
Yes, Parker Valby may be gone and that's a challenging loss to deal with. But the Gators could not have possibly done better in replacing her scoring potency than by signing former Alabama megastar, Hilda Olemomoi.
This past summer, Olemomoi ventured away from Alabama to reunite with her former coach. And nowadays, you could argue that she's the single-best long distance runner in the country (with the only counter argument being her former teammate, Doris Lemngole).
Not only did Olemomoi earn bronze at last year's NCAA XC Championships, but she also earned a pair of silver medals at the outdoor national meet behind Parker Valby this past spring. Olemomoi has also posted head-turning PRs of 15:06 (5k) and 31:51 (10k).
Sure, Olemomoi will only make up for a portion of Florida's lost scoring. Even so, the Gators couldn't have done much better in terms of replacing Valby's scoring presence.
Thankfully, Allison Wilson is one of the few women from last year's cross country lineup who is also set to return. And while she wasn't an All-American in 2023, it probably wouldn't surprise anyone if she emerged as a top-40 national meet finisher come November.
Remember, Wilson was 38th at the Nuttycombe Invite and 49th at the NCAA XC Championships last fall. Those are two highly encouraging results which suggest that Wilson is at her best when she's on a large, high-pressure stages. And with results like that, some distance running fans may suggest that she's actually favored for an All-American honor in 2024.
But even if Wilson only replicates her results from last year, then that will still be a welcomed development for the Gators. As long as Florida can get a strong and consistent secondary scorer to complement Olemomoi, then they'll at least have the prerequisite pieces to remain in our national rankings.
Of course, after those two women, the scoring projections for this 2024 lineup become a bit less clear and a bit more speculative.
* * *
We will admit, the scoring reinforcements and the cross country depth (or lack thereof) on Florida's roster isn't exactly extensive. Even so, there are still a few women who Coach Will Palmer can turn to in an effort to field a competitive top-five.
Incoming distance star and England native Tia Wilson, for instance, is absurdly talented. She has run head-turning times of 4:13 (1500), 8:57 (3k) and 15:39 (5k), theoretically making her a top-70 or top-80 name (at the very least) going into the upcoming cross country season.
Wilson does have prior cross country championship experience, placing 34th at the 2023 U23 European XC Championships. That result, however, was produced prior to her true breakout year on the track in 2024.
It's not easy to properly gauge just how effective certain athletes from overseas can/will be when they enter the NCAA. There's still a chance that it will take some time for Tia Wilson to truly adjust to NCAA competition this fall. Even so, the raw talent is undeniably there and in a best case scenario, Florida has three legitimate All-American threats.
But...after that? Well, that's where things get far fuzzier.
Beth Morley is another addition from the UK. She’s been great in the mile and 1500-meter distances, running times of 4:36 and 4:11, respectively. She has also run a 5k PR of 16:08, but that time was run on the roads, making it challenging to gauge just how effective she’ll be over 6k on the grass.
There’s also Gabby Schmidt, another distance talent from overseas, this time from Australia. She has a respectable 3k PR of 9:23 and has also run 16:23 for 5k.
Together, Morley and Schmidt will ultimately determine the direction of this squad. If they are able to build on recent efforts, then the Gators will exceed this ranking. If they don’t, then the options behind them become a bit more limited.
Liina Winborn could be an option for Florida's cross country lineup after gaining national meet experience in 2023 and placing 32nd at the SEC XC Championships. Reagan Gilmore is a top-tier distance recruit from Kentucky who has run head-turning times of 4:45 (mile) and 10:05 (3200). Ashley Fitzgerald is another strong recruit, having run as fast as 17:40 for 5000 meters on the grass while emerging as one of Florida's top prep talents.
One x-factor to monitor is Caroline Wells, a transfer from Stanford who is returning to her home state. She joins the Gators with solid times of 4:42 (mile) and 16:16 (5k). The only issue, however, is that she ran those times in high school. Since joining the Cardinal, Wells has been attempting to rediscover her top form.
* * *
We'll admit, putting the Florida women at our TSR #23 spot requires some favorable projections.
Olemomoi and Wilson feel like safe names who this team can rely on in terms of scoring. But after that duo, we begin to have more questions than answers about the rest of this lineup. We're not entirely sure what Tia Wilson will look like in the NCAA, both Morley and Schmidt are x-factors and the scoring potential for the rest of this lineup truthfully feels thin.
And yet, when you look at how dangerous the Gators' top-three could be this fall, it's impossible not to think that Florida could be a nationally competitive group (to some extent) come October and November.
