University of Georgia Athletics
Drops, Bulldogs On The Rise
October 26, 2017 | Cross Country, Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
The Georgia women's cross country team enters Friday's SEC Championships at the UGA Golf Course ranked No. 16, its highest mark in a decade. Jessica and Sam Drop are by no means the sole reason for the Bulldogs' surge this season, but the fraternal twins that look maybe 95 percent the same are more than integral to the Bulldogs' success — they're the pacesetters.
Since they arrived from Durham, Conn., last fall, Jessica and Sam have been Georgia's top runners, with Jessica finishing first most of the time. In every meet since they became Bulldogs, the Drops have been Georgia's top two finishers.
"It's more than I expected and much better," Sam said of her time at Georgia. "I thought I'd be homesick all the time and ... I love being down here."
At the NCAA Pre-Nationals earlier this month in Louisville, Sam finished 13th overall and Jessica was 14th. It was Sam's second time leading the team in her Georgia career.
Because every cross-country course is different — certainly in topography and difficulty, as well as sometimes in distance — times from one event to the next usually don't mean a whole lot. So what Georgia's men and women did at the Pre-Nationals or some of the other fall races isn't easily analyzed. But that's not the case for the Bulldog SEC Preview back in early September.
With the Georgia women running the 6K course and the men the 8K route, both sets of Bulldogs had good performances — against a field that will feature a lot of the same schools as Friday's SEC Championships. Led by the Drops, the Georgia women took first place and the men were fourth. Among the schools the women beat were Texas A&M, South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU.
Jessica Drop won the race — her third career event win — with a time of 21:10.7, and Sam finished in second place, five seconds back. Also placing well that day were senior Addy Lippitt (fourth) and juniors Grace Tavani (sixth) and Hailey Branch (ninth).
There is another result to look at from this season: at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sept. 29, Jessica placed third overall, just like she did as a freshman. But she ran the 6K course a year ago in 20:13 and she ran it a month ago in 19:52.
Sam had an even bigger improvement, going from 20:50 (and 43rd place) as a freshman to 20:00 and fifth place last month.
Cunniff said the Drops' performances in the Paul Short and the Pre-Nationals, against a lot of elite competition, "shows tremendous maturation."
Sam is getting better, Jessica is getting better, the team is getting better. All of it, of course, is the work of mileage and training and maturation. With the Drops, Cunniff said, he's been delighted to see both their development as Georgia runners and as well-rounded individuals.
"Now I think they're really growing into being incredibly solid (runners) and like any young person, maturing in life and learning who they are and learning to trust that. From there is coming a lot of strength and a lot of great performances," Cunniff said.
The Drops grew up playing soccer, until Sam quit because she, quote ironically, didn't like all the running. Sam eventually got into cross country first, and was a natural, while Jessica kept playing soccer and also was an All-American in track, as was Sam. Before last fall, however, Jessica had run only one cross-country race in her life. Jessica is a much different runner now.
"Just going on runs, I feel stronger, I can go longer and I can go faster," she said. "Now, going 60-65 miles a week is a big jump for me, but it's been a gradual process. Now it's sometimes like, I only have 60 miles this week instead of 65; it's crazy to think how much better I've gotten at running distances like that."
Sam regularly ran more in high school, so her jump in mileage from high school to now, only about 10-15 more miles a week, has been a bit easier to manage.
"I like running so I love going out and running more," Sam said. "I get sad when (Cunniff) says only 50 miles this week."
Running cross country means running a lot of miles, like those 60-65 a week, to build up the foundation of strength and endurance needed to run 6,000 meters (about 3.7 miles) in under 20 minutes. Cunniff said there are still "a lot of exciting ways that they can improve," and the good news is that they're competitive enough to want to keep pushing and pushing to get better.
"Those two along with (fellow sophomore Yanely Gomez), they resuscitated our program, as much by intensity and competitiveness as by being our one, two or one, two, four runners — just by coming in with an attitude of working that hard and wanting to be that good and dedicated," Cunniff said.
UGAAA Staff Writer
The Georgia women's cross country team enters Friday's SEC Championships at the UGA Golf Course ranked No. 16, its highest mark in a decade. Jessica and Sam Drop are by no means the sole reason for the Bulldogs' surge this season, but the fraternal twins that look maybe 95 percent the same are more than integral to the Bulldogs' success — they're the pacesetters.
Since they arrived from Durham, Conn., last fall, Jessica and Sam have been Georgia's top runners, with Jessica finishing first most of the time. In every meet since they became Bulldogs, the Drops have been Georgia's top two finishers.
"It's more than I expected and much better," Sam said of her time at Georgia. "I thought I'd be homesick all the time and ... I love being down here."
At the NCAA Pre-Nationals earlier this month in Louisville, Sam finished 13th overall and Jessica was 14th. It was Sam's second time leading the team in her Georgia career.
Because every cross-country course is different — certainly in topography and difficulty, as well as sometimes in distance — times from one event to the next usually don't mean a whole lot. So what Georgia's men and women did at the Pre-Nationals or some of the other fall races isn't easily analyzed. But that's not the case for the Bulldog SEC Preview back in early September.
With the Georgia women running the 6K course and the men the 8K route, both sets of Bulldogs had good performances — against a field that will feature a lot of the same schools as Friday's SEC Championships. Led by the Drops, the Georgia women took first place and the men were fourth. Among the schools the women beat were Texas A&M, South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU.
Jessica Drop won the race — her third career event win — with a time of 21:10.7, and Sam finished in second place, five seconds back. Also placing well that day were senior Addy Lippitt (fourth) and juniors Grace Tavani (sixth) and Hailey Branch (ninth).
There is another result to look at from this season: at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sept. 29, Jessica placed third overall, just like she did as a freshman. But she ran the 6K course a year ago in 20:13 and she ran it a month ago in 19:52.
Sam had an even bigger improvement, going from 20:50 (and 43rd place) as a freshman to 20:00 and fifth place last month.
Cunniff said the Drops' performances in the Paul Short and the Pre-Nationals, against a lot of elite competition, "shows tremendous maturation."
Sam is getting better, Jessica is getting better, the team is getting better. All of it, of course, is the work of mileage and training and maturation. With the Drops, Cunniff said, he's been delighted to see both their development as Georgia runners and as well-rounded individuals.
"Now I think they're really growing into being incredibly solid (runners) and like any young person, maturing in life and learning who they are and learning to trust that. From there is coming a lot of strength and a lot of great performances," Cunniff said.
The Drops grew up playing soccer, until Sam quit because she, quote ironically, didn't like all the running. Sam eventually got into cross country first, and was a natural, while Jessica kept playing soccer and also was an All-American in track, as was Sam. Before last fall, however, Jessica had run only one cross-country race in her life. Jessica is a much different runner now.
"Just going on runs, I feel stronger, I can go longer and I can go faster," she said. "Now, going 60-65 miles a week is a big jump for me, but it's been a gradual process. Now it's sometimes like, I only have 60 miles this week instead of 65; it's crazy to think how much better I've gotten at running distances like that."
Sam regularly ran more in high school, so her jump in mileage from high school to now, only about 10-15 more miles a week, has been a bit easier to manage.
"I like running so I love going out and running more," Sam said. "I get sad when (Cunniff) says only 50 miles this week."
Running cross country means running a lot of miles, like those 60-65 a week, to build up the foundation of strength and endurance needed to run 6,000 meters (about 3.7 miles) in under 20 minutes. Cunniff said there are still "a lot of exciting ways that they can improve," and the good news is that they're competitive enough to want to keep pushing and pushing to get better.
"Those two along with (fellow sophomore Yanely Gomez), they resuscitated our program, as much by intensity and competitiveness as by being our one, two or one, two, four runners — just by coming in with an attitude of working that hard and wanting to be that good and dedicated," Cunniff said.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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