M. Cross Country
Mocs Climb Three Spots to Fifth in Latest USTFCCCA South Region Rankings
NEW ORLEANS - Florida Southern Men’s Cross Country climbed three positions to the fifth spot in this week’s latest South Region rankings that are compiled by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The Moccasins moved up three spots following its second place finish at last weekend’s Sunshine State Conference Championships in Orlando. At the SSC Meet, the Mocs had four of its top runners finish in the Top 10 en route to scoring 47 points to finish six points behind Nova Southeastern.
FSC is one five schools from the SSC that are ranked in this week’s South Region rankings. Nova Southeastern jumped five spots to slide in the No. 2 ranking following their first place finish at the SSC Championships, while Tampa stayed at No. 6 and Florida Tech five spots to No. 7 after being ranked second last weeek. Rounding out this week’s poll for the third consecutive week is Saint Leo, who remains at No. 10.
The USTFCCCA NCAA Division II region poll will be released every week during the regular season. The poll ranks the Top 10 men’s and women’s cross country teams in each of the eight NCAA regions. Eight regional representatives coordinate the voting in their own region with input from the coaches.
Alabama Huntsville, who is the host school for the NCAA Division II South Region Championship on Nov. 3, is ranked No. 1 for the seventh consecutive week. West Alabama and West Florida continue in the third and fourth place spots respectively. Morehouse falls three places to eighth and Christian Brothers comes in at ninth this week.
Junior David Tomchinsky (Englewood, Fla.) was the highest finishing Moc at the SSC Championship as he ran a season-best 8K time of 26:13.8 to finish in third place, while junior Chris Yanichko (Grove City, Ohio) finished in sixth with a time of 26:23 at the SSC Championships. Freshman Jose Perez (Haines City, Fla.) and junior Chris Trebilcock (Alachua, Fla.) were the other two runners breaking the Top 10 with eighth and ninth place finishes respectively.
The Mocs will next compete at the NCAA South Regional Championship in Huntsville, Ala., on Nov. 3. The top-three teams and the top-five individuals not associated with a team among the top three qualify for the NCAA D-II National Championships in Joplin, Mo.
