Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After competing in her second meet of the 2024 Outdoor season, Parker Valby has made her seventh career and seventh consecutive appearance on The Bowerman Women's Watch List as announced by the USTFCCCA on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Additionally, Grace Stark, who has snapped her own University of Florida school record in the 100m H twice and holds the national lead in the event, received votes for the first time in 2024. Stark appeared on the 2022 Bowerman Watchlist five times.
 
PARKER VALBY RESUME
 
2024 Outdoor Track & Field
In her most recent outing, and running on her home track for this first time in her collegiate career, Valby became the back-to-back SEC Outdoor Champion in the Women's 5000m recording a time of 15:07.86. The time stands as a new program record, topping her own time by nearly 18 seconds (15:20.10 – 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships). Her time is also the new SEC Outdoor Championship meet record, the Percy Beard Track facility record and No. 4 in NCAA history.
 
Valby became the first Florida Gator female athlete since Shelly Steely (1984-1985) to win back-to-back SEC Outdoor 5000m titles. Her and Steely are also the only two in program history to achieve this feat.
 
Earlier this season, Valby competed in the 10,000m for the first time in her collegiate career, Valby shattered another NCAA record as she crossed the finish line in 30:50.43 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. The previous record, which was held by Lisa Uhl (31:18.07), had stood for 14 years before Valby's performance on April 11.
 
Valby joined an elite group of women as she became the 13^th woman in American history to have broken 31 minutes in the 10,000m. Her time ranks 11^th on the American all-time list and is No. 5 in the world in 2024. What was even more remarkable about Valby's performance was her splits. The redshirt junior split 15:30 and 15:20 in the first and second halves of the race which is groundbreaking considering her record in an outdoor 5000m sits at 15:20.10, which she ran in 2022 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
 
2024 Indoor Track & Field
The Tampa, Florida native took home titles in both the 5000m and 3000m at the NCAA Indoor Championships in record setting fashion. In the 5000m, Valby snapped her own collegiate record as she crossed the finish line in 14:52.79. Her time also stands as the NCAA Indoor Championships meet record and the TRACK at New Balance facility record. Approximately 24 hours later she stepped back on to the track where she broke the NCAA Indoor Championships meet record in the 3000m with a time of 8:51.30 which is also the third fastest time in indoor collegiate history.
 
Valby's undefeated season also included the No. 2 time in the 5000m (14:56.11), which was the first time a woman had run sub-15 indoors or outdoors at the collegiate level, as well as the No. 6 time in the indoor 3000m (8:42.29) which was achieved at SEC Championships.
 
GRACE STARK RESUME
 
2024 Outdoor Track & Field
Stark has been on a tear during the outdoor season. Two years after breaking her leg at the SEC Outdoor Championships, the hurdler is running better than ever. She has broken her own school record, and set new personal records, on two separate occasions. The first occurred in the 100m H finals at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational where Stark notched a time of 12.56 topping her previous best by 0.02 seconds. Just this past weekend Stark snapped the record again as her time of 12.53 not only set a new NCAA lead but earned Stark her second SEC gold medal of 2024. This marked the first time a Florida Gator has won the 100m H at the SEC Outdoor Championships since 1993.
 
2024 Indoor Track & Field
The White Lake, Michigan native also recorded an individual conference championship during the indoor season. She struck gold in the 60m H crossing the finish line in 7.90. Stark followed up her performance at the conference meet with a runner-up finish in the 60m H at the NCAA Indoor Championships improving her season best time by 0.09 seconds (7.81). She was named a 2024 USTFCCCA Indoor First Team All-American.
 
THE BOWERMAN 2024 WOMEN'S UPDATE #6
JaMeesia Ford, South Carolina – Sprints
Rachel Glenn, Arkansas – Hurdles/Jumps
Jasmine Jones, Southern California – Sprints/Hurdles
McKenzie Long, Ole Miss – Sprints
Brianna Lyston, LSU – Sprints
Nickisha Pryce, Arkansas – Sprints
Maia Ramsden, Harvard – Mid-Distance/Distance
Michaela Rose, LSU – Mid-Distance
Jaida Ross, Oregon – Throws
Parker Valby, Florida – Distance
 
Receiving Votes
Lamara Distin, Texas A&M – Jumps
Elena Kulichenko, Georgia – Jumps
Doris Lemngole, Alabama – Distance
Grace Stark, Florida – Sprints/Hurdles
 
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