MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Florida Southern men and the University of Tampa women continued their winning ways, as the two teams captured their respective 2004 Sunshine State Conference cross country championships Saturday morning at Wickham Park. With the victories, Florida Southern has now won eight consecutive SSC men's championships, while Tampa has captured three consecutive SSC women's titles.
In the men's team competition, Florida Southern recorded 16 team points, as Moccasin runners finished in the first four positions, while also claiming spots six through eight. The University of Tampa finished second with 57 points, while host Florida Tech was third with 68. Nova Southeastern University (109 points), Saint Leo University (153) and Rollins College (163) rounded out the field.
On the women's side, Tampa picked up 21 team points, with Spartan runners placing first, second, fourth, fifth and ninth. Florida Southern claimed second place with 34 points, while host Florida Tech was third with 100. Nova Southeastern (115) came in fourth, followed by Rollins and Saint Leo with 155 points each. Rollins earned fifth place in the tiebreaker, as the Tars' sixth place runner finished ahead of Saint Leo's sixth place finisher. Eckerd College did not field a complete team and did not place in the final team standings.
Florida Southern junior Tyrone Bell (Orange Park, Fla.) captured the men's individual championship, completing the 8K race in 25:27.39, while Tampa junior Allison Macsas (Denton, Tex.) earned the women's individual title, finishing the 6K event in a time of 20:35.73.
Florida Southern and Tampa were dominant in both divisions, as the schools combined to claim the first eight spots in the men's competition, while the two squads also captured the first 14 spots in the women's division.
In both races, the top five finishers are recognized as first-team All-SSC honorees, while runners six through 10 earn second-team All-SSC distinction. In addition to Bell, men's first team honors also went to Florida Southern senior John Emerson (Brooksville, Fla., 2nd, 25:52.94), Florida Southern senior Louis Rufo (Cape Coral, Fla., 3rd, 25:58.490, Florida Southern freshman Lief Thomason (Satellite Beach, Fla., 4th, 26:02.97) and Tampa freshman David Forry (Tampa, Fla., 5th, 26:11.58).
Along with Macsas, women's first team honors went to Tampa senior Dee Dee Haefling (Brandon, Fla., 2nd, 20:57.04), Florida Southern sophomore Jael Koech (Nairobi, Kenya, 3rd, 20:59.01), Tampa senior Erin Wilson (Safety Harbor, Fla., 4th, 21:02.96) and Tampa senior Elizabeth Bragg (Lakeland, Fla., 5th, 21:13.26).
The men's second team was comprised of Florida Southern sophomore Eric Walker (Matawan, N.J., 6th, 26:23.70), Florida Southern sophomore James Murphy (Orange Park, Fla., 7th, 26:51.15), Florida Southern freshman Michael Murphy (Carmel, Ind., 8th, 27:00.45), Florida Tech junior Caleb Slavens (Beaver, Ore., 9th, 27:11.42) and Tampa senior Eric Hall (Dade City, Fla., 10th, 27:16.96).
Women's second team honors went to Florida Southern sophomore Rachel Anderson (Collierville, Tenn., 6th, 21:35.29), Florida Southern senior Linda Mrkic (Victoria, Australia, 7th, 22:01.26), Florida Southern junior Elizabeth Garcia (Medellin, Colombia, 8th, 22:08.67), Tampa junior Kim Dunker (Hartland, Wisc., 9th, 22:24.09) and Florida Southern freshman
Danielle Shimer (Lutz, Fla., 10th, 22:30:90).
The SSC will announce conference Runners-of-the-Year and Coaches-of-the-Year on Tuesday.
MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Florida Southern men and the University of Tampa women continued their winning ways, as the two teams captured their respective 2004 Sunshine State Conference cross country championships Saturday morning at Wickham Park. With the victories, Florida Southern has now won eight consecutive SSC men's championships, while Tampa has captured three consecutive SSC women's titles.
In the men's team competition, Florida Southern recorded 16 team points, as Moccasin runners finished in the first four positions, while also claiming spots six through eight. The University of Tampa finished second with 57 points, while host Florida Tech was third with 68. Nova Southeastern University (109 points), Saint Leo University (153) and Rollins College (163) rounded out the field.
On the women's side, Tampa picked up 21 team points, with Spartan runners placing first, second, fourth, fifth and ninth. Florida Southern claimed second place with 34 points, while host Florida Tech was third with 100. Nova Southeastern (115) came in fourth, followed by Rollins and Saint Leo with 155 points each. Rollins earned fifth place in the tiebreaker, as the Tars' sixth place runner finished ahead of Saint Leo's sixth place finisher. Eckerd College did not field a complete team and did not place in the final team standings.