11/18/2023
CBO™ BREAKING NEWS / TODAY, Nov. 18, 2023 / Panorama Farms, Earlysville, VA
What’s the most exciting athletic event in the country today? At Canopy Breezes™, we’re going with the D1 NCAA XC Championships in Charlottesville, VA. Both the 10:20 a.m. Women’s 6K/11:10 a.m. Men's 10K, races are slated to be some of the very best!
Picking today’s women’s top team might be easier, but crowning the individual champ, is tough. Parker Valby of UF and Katelyn Tuohy of NC State are set to square off. Let us Valby and Tuohy are gritty competitors. Their head to head record is now 7-1. Katelyn posed a 6–0 record against Parker prior to Valby’s recent historic 6k Zimmer Course run at Nuttycombe in a staggering 19:17 (CR). This rivalry has a similar feel to it as the XC duo of Gerry Lindgren and Steven PreFontaine. (both 3-peat XC national champions).
1969 at the NCAA D1 Men's XC Championships in Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY, is when the world’s eyes were opened to how fantastic this duo was. As the Freshman, PreFontaine, gave it his all for a 3rd place finish. Although a total of 29 teams/254 individuals competed, it was the duo that got the headlines. PreFontaine would go on to finish 1st the following 3 years.
Parker Valby, the 2023 NCAA champion in the 5,000 meters, signed a NIL deal with Nike. She announced the deal in June. Valby, a sophomore at the UF, ran the 5,000 in 15:30.57 in hot conditions in Austin, TX, winning by 9 seconds.
For Katelyn Tuohy of NC State, this could be her final NCAA. Instead of heading into the indoor season, there is a big possibility that she will move to the professional ranks, sign a huge endorsement deal, (Tuohy has had an NIL deal with Adidas since last November), and immediately start focusing on the 2024 Olympics and her first Wheaties Box.
Note: In 2022, Valby was the runner-up in this same event to Tuohy. Valby took off strong off the line and opened up a big lead throughout the first half of the course. Tuohy, the tough New York/Hudson River runner, reeled her in by the finish line to come out victorious.
Our prediction is an NCAA victory for both the NAU Women’s/Men’s. Today’s meet will be streamed live on ESPNU/ESPN+.
CBO™