University of Tennessee Athletics
Long Earns SEC XC Men's Runner of Week
October 03, 2017 | Track & Field
Tennessee junior Zach Long is first UT man to win SEC Cross Country Men's Runner of the Week since 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Tennessee junior Zach Long has been named the SEC Cross Country Men's Runner of the Week, as announced by the Southeastern Conference office on Tuesday.
This week's honor is the third SEC cross country weekly award for Zach Long. In 2015, he was named SEC Men's Freshman Runner of the Week twice (Oct. 6 and Oct. 20). Long's honor this week also marks the eighth time in Tennessee history that UT has featured the SEC Cross Country Men's Runner of the Week and Long is the first Vol to win the Award since Zach Sabatino on Sept. 27, 2005.
The Tennessee cross country program has produced two SEC weekly awards this season. On Sept. 12, freshman Abigail Smith was named the SEC Women's Freshman of the Week.
Long posted the best 8K time of his career at 23:50 in last week's 44th annual Paul Short Run presented by Asics at Goodman Campus Cross Country Course, marking his first time breaking the 24-minute mark. Long was in third place through the first mile at 4:36. He was the top SEC finisher in a meet that also featured Georgia and Mississippi State. Long's 10th-place finish was also the fourth top 10 showing of his UT cross country career.
Tennessee will be back in action on Oct. 14 when the Big Orange heads to Louisville, Kentucky, to compete in Pre-Nationals at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.
Tennessee SEC Cross Country Weekly Awards History
Men's Runner of the Week
1999: Anthony Famiglietti (9/28)
2000: Eric Bell (9/6)
2002: Tim Kelly (9/17), Parker Gildea (10/15)
2003: Tim Kelly (9/29)
2004: Dusty Miller (10/12)
2005: Zach Sabatino (9/27)
2017: Zach Long (10/3)
Men's Freshman of the Week
2008: Chris Bodary (10/7)
2009: Leoule Degfae (10/20)
2011: Austin Whitelaw (9/20)
2012: Kyle Walter (9/18)
2015: Zach Long (10/6, 10/20)
2016: Gashaw Duhamel (9/20)
Women's Runner of the Week
2000: Sharon Dickie (10/17)
2001: Brooke Novak (9/3)
2002: Sharon Dickie (9/24, 10/22)
2003: Megan Cauble (9/15)
2004: Felicia Guliford (9/13), Brooke Novak (10/5)
2005: Sarah Bowman (9/7), Katie Flaute (10/4)
2007: Sarah Bowman (9/5, 9/25)
2009: Jackie Areson (10/6)
2011: Brittany Sheffey (co-winner 9/20)
2014: Chelsea Blaase (9/16, co-winner 10/21)
Women's Freshman of the Week
2017: Abigail Smith (9/12)
Players Mentioned
