#21 Moccasins Defeat Six Top-30 Teams in Illinois

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The 21^ST-ranked Florida Southern College men's cross country returned to action Saturday morning as the Moccasins competed in the Lewis Crossover in Romeoville, Ill. The Mocs faced tough competition including 11 teams ranked in the top-30 in the country. FSC tallied 202 points to take sixth overall Saturday, finishing ahead of six ranked opponents as well as two Sunshine State Conference foes.
 
Senior Christian Giller returned to form after missing some action earlier this season. The Brandon, Fla. native picked up a top-15 finish as he placed 13^th overall with a time of 24:21.02 on the 8K course. All five of the Moccasin scorers finished inside the top-55. Sophomore Eli Zuppa was next in line for FSC as he picked up a 42^nd place finish with a mark of 24:44.61. Junior transfer Michael Toppi rounded out the top three for FSC as he finished just three spots behind Zuppa in 45^th. The Melbourne, Fla. native stopped the clock at 24:48.58. Senior Anthony Matthew and junior Cole Summers nearly went back-to-back to finish up the scoring for FSC. Matthew placed 50^th followed by Summers in 52^nd. Matthew stopped the clock at 24:52.11 while Summers came in less than a second later at 24:52.96.
 
Senior Chris Colavita just missed out on a scoring spot as he claimed 53^rd, just behind Summers with a time of 24:53.11. The final two competitors for the Mocs were senior Simon DeVoss and junior Cameron Raney. DeVoss picked up a top-100 finish in 87^th with a time of 25:15.57 while Raney finished back in 197th after crossing the line in 26:09.99.
 
The Mocs defeated host and 16^th-ranked Lewis (7^th), 18^th-ranked Northwest Nazarene (8^th), 17^th-ranked Fort Lewis (10^th), 23^rd-ranked Walsh (11^th), 19^th-ranked Michigan Tech (13^th), 28^th-ranked Biola (Calif.) (18^th), as well as Tampa (16^th) and Palm Beach Atlantic (17^th).
 
FSC will return to action Friday, Oct. 17 at 5:45 p.m. for the Ed Holloway Classic in Lakeland, Fla.   
 
FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE FINISHERS

13th	Christian Giller	24:21.02
42nd	Eli Zuppa	24:44.61
45th	Michael Toppi	24:48.58
50th	Anthony Matthew	24:52.11
52nd	Cole Summers	24:52.96
53rd	Chris Colavita	24:53.11
87th	Simon DeVoss	25:15.57
197th	Cameron Raney	26:09.99