The excellent adventures of Florida freshman tennis players Lauren Embree and Allie Will came to an end Sunday afternoon in the final doubles match at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Embree and Will lost to Tennessee’s seventh-ranked team of Caitlin Whoriskey and Natalie Pluskota, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, in the championship final after being the Cinderella team of the tournament.
“Lauren and Allie played well in the first set, but started a little complacent in the second set and that’s when Tennessee took control of the net,” Florida associate head coach Dave Balogh said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t counter. I’m very proud of the way they represented Florida. This was an impressive start to their Gator careers.”
The Gator freshmen defeated North Carolina’s fourth-seeded and fifth-ranked team of Sophie Grabinski and Sanaz Marand, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, Saturday to reach the final.
Embree and Will began the tournament playing through the qualifying draw, winning three matches in two days to advance to the main draw, with three wins in three days before Sunday’s finale. Along their path to the title match, the unranked freshmen team defeated six nationally-ranked teams, including No. 5, 11, 13, 18, 20 and 27.
Florida competes in the ITA Southeast Regional qualifying tournament beginning Oct. 21 in Atlanta.
CROSS COUNTRY: The Florida men’s and women’s cross country teams recorded strong finishes at the Florida State University Invitational Saturday morning in Tallahassee. The men’s team finished second and the women’s team was fourth. Stephen F. Austin swept the team titles.
Both Florida teams battled the flu since competing in the Notre Dame Invitational earlier this month. The men tallied 69, finishing second to Stephen F. Austin which totaled 24. The Gators were led by sophomore Michael Anderson of Williston, who placed fifth overall on the 8K course in a time of 25:33.32.
“Michael Anderson took a big step forward, coming back from being sick to finish well,” head coach Todd Morgan said. “Overall, it was a positive on the men’s side and a big step in the right direction to get the men back on track.”
Sophomore Alex Wills followed his teammate across the finish line in sixth, running a personal-best 25:40.31. Sophomore Geoffrey Anderson was 14th (26:16.78) while senior Carlos Phillips and freshman John Mitchell placed 29th and 37th, respectively.
The women, ranked ninth in the nation, tallied 81 for a fourth-place finish in the 5K race won by SFA with 40. Junior Ali Crabb (17:54.15) was fourth and freshman Sydney Devore finished sixth with a personal-best time of 18:17.30.
“The women competed hard and ran well,” Morgan said. “After suffering from illness, Ali is getting back to where she was last year and to the level she expects to be at. It is a huge step for us in preparing for regionals and nationals. Sydney went after it and really improved. She ran up front with Ali and pushed herself to finish well with a good personal best.”
Freshman Mandy Perkins finished 14th (18:40.44) in her first collegiate meet.
The Gators travel to Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday to run against the top teams in the nation at the Pre-NCAA Invitational.
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY INVITATIONAL
At Tallahassee
WOMEN’S 5K RACE
Team standings: 1. Stephen F. Austin 40; 2. No. 11 Florida State 50; 3. Tampa 76; 4. No. 9 Florida 81; 5. North Florida 92; 6. Augusta State 179; 7. Florida A&M 220.
Individual champion: Jennifer Dunn (FSU) 17:41.43.
Florida results: 4. Ali Crabb 17:54.15; 6. Sydney Devore 18:17.30 (personal best); 14. Mandy Perkins 18:40.44 (personal best); 26. Alison Babb 19:14.41; 32. Callie Cooper 19:44.10 (personal best); 30. Erica Taltos 20:15.31.
MEN’S 8K RACE
Team standings: 1. Stephen F. Austin 24; 2. Florida 69; 3. North Florida 72; 4. No. 28 Florida State 84; 5. Tampa 112; 6. Florida A&M 159.
Individual champion: Mitch Ownbey (SFA) 24:50.85.
Florida results: 5. Michael Anderson 25:33.32; 6. Alex Wills 25:40.21 (personal best); 14. Geoffrey Anderson 26:16.78; 29. Carlos Phillips 27:39.19 (personal best); 37. John Mitchell 28:10.65 (personal best).
MEN’S TENNIS: Florida’s Alexandre Lacroix was defeated by Southern California’s Steve Johnson in Friday’s quarterfinals of the D’Novo/ITA All-American Tennis Championships at the University of Tulsa’s Michael D. Case Tennis Center. After taking the first set, 6-2, No. 23 Lacroix dropped the next two, 6-3, 7-5. The loss is the first for Lacroix in seven outings this fall and the junior from Paris has a 3-1 record against ranked opponents.