Florida Southern Men's Cross Country Eyes Three-peat at SSC Championships

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern men's cross country team is preparing for the 2025 Sunshine State Conference Championship, which will take place tomorrow, Oct. 25, at Holloway Park in Lakeland. The Mocs enter the weekend ranked No. 2 in the USTFCCCA South Region Poll, and No. 15 among all NCAA DII as the top SSC program between both polls. FSC has won the last two conference championships,
 
Florida Southern will be sending an experienced lineup to the 2025 Championship as five of FSC's top 10 performers from last year's event return for 2025, including the 2024 SSC Individual Champion Christian Giller. The Mocs return as the defending champions after capturing their 19^th SSC title ahead of the University of Tampa by 33 points.
 
The Mocs have flexed their depth throughout the regular season, with two first-place team finishes and several top-10 finishers at each event this year. In the season opener, Simon DeVoss placed fifth, and Andrew Nyland sixth for a second-place overall finish for the Mocs at the Swan City Invitational. FSC then won its first event of the season at the HOKA Nights of Thunder in Tallahassee as the Mocs took 1-9 in the top finishers. Giller won that event, followed by Eli Zuppa, Chris Colavita, Nyland, Michael Toppi, Cole Summers, William Canales, Cameron Raney, and Daniel Welling.
 
Florida Southern then traveled to the site of the 2025 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship in Kenosha, Wis., as the Mocs took seventh overall, defeating a pair of teams in the top-30 nationally. Zuppa was the top FSC finisher in that event. Mocs secured their second victory of the season at the 26^th Annual FLRunners.com Invitational, with DeVoss the individual winner. DeVoss' victory is the first regular-season individual win for the Mocs since 2021, when Mason Jones (2017-21) won the Valdosta State Border Clash. FSC had another near sweep of the top 10 finishers, securing 1-9 in that meet. DeVoss later earned SSC Runner of the Week for his performance.
 
In a great test amongst national talent, the Mocs, then ranked No. 21, defeated six top-30 teams in Illinois at the Lewis Crossover as Giller returned to course action with a top-15 finish. Rising to No. 15 in the final regular-season poll, the Moccasins closed out the regular season with a second-place finish at the Ed Holloway Classic with several great performances in a final tune-up before conference. Nyland was the top FSC finisher, with a third-place 25:41 time, the top-finishing NCAA Division II student-athlete. Nyland earned both SSC Runner of the Week and was named a M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week by the USTFCCCA, just the second time in program history a Moccasin earned a national weekly honor.
 
Last year's championship run by the Mocs marked their second-straight championship and 19^th overall SSC title for the program. Giller and Colavita went one-two in the overall standings, with Giller winning his first career conference championship. FSC occupied eight of the top 20 spots in the championship, finishing with 27 points. The University of Tampa was second in the race with 60 points, followed by Embry-Riddle. FSC entered this season as the preseason favorite, as voted on by the SSC cross country coaches, with a top-three finish in 28 of the last 29 SSC Championships to date.

The 2025 Championship race is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning at 8:45 AM at Holloway Park in Lakeland.