#15 Moccasins Three-Peat at SSC Championship; Giller Earns His Second-Straight Individual Crown

LAKELAND, Fla. – The 15^th-ranked Florida Southern College men's cross country earned its third-straight Sunshine State Conference Championship Saturday morning as the Moccasins finished 29 points ahead of second-place while claiming their 20^th SSC Title in program history. Senior Christian Giller earned his second-straight individual championship, becoming the fifth FSC men's cross country student-athlete to go back-to-back. His individual title is the 17^th in program history.
 
The Moccasins have not gone back-to-back-to-back since the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons which were the 12^th, 13^th and 14^th-straight SSC Championships for the Mocs who dominated the early 2000s, winning 14 championships-in-a-row from 1997-2010.
 
Giller led the way Saturday as he took the individual title by nine seconds as he completed the 8K course in 24:27.6. FSC's next two scorers went back-to-back in fifth and sixth as senior Chris Colavita and junior Cole Summers finished within a second of one another. Colavita crossed the line in 24:57.1 while Summers came across in 24:57.7. The final member of the Mocs in the top-10 was sophomore Eli Zuppa who took eighth overall while clocking in at 25:08.4. All four Moccasins earned All-Championship Team honors for placing inside the top-10.
 
The final scoring member of the squad just missed out on All-Championship status as senior Anthony Matthew took 11^th overall with a time of 25:14.2. Sophomore Andrew Nyland was FSC's sixth finisher as he took 15^th overall with a mark of 25:23.5.
 
The next two Moccasin finishers went 21^st and 23^rd, respectively. Juniors William Canales and Declan Ziomek finished within four seconds of one another. Canales crossed the line in 25:49.3 while Ziomek clocked in at 25:53.0.
 
FSC had an additional 13 competitors in the race who placed between 33rd and 76th.
 
The Moccasins captured the team title with 31 total points. Embry-Riddle took second with 60 points followed by Palm Beach Atlantic who came in with 68 points. 
 
Florida Southern will now turn its focus to the 2025 NCAA South Region Championship which will take place in Lakeland, Fla. at Holloway Park on Saturday, Nov. 8.
 
FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE FINISHERS

1st	Christian Giller	24:27.6
5th	Chris Colavita	24:57.1
6th	Cole Summers	24:57.7
8th	Eli Zuppa	25:08.4
11th	Anthony Matthew	25:14.2
15th	Andrew Nyland	25:23.5
21st	William Canales	25:49.3
23rd	Declan Ziomek	25:53.0
33rd	Simon DeVoss	26:06.2
35th	Cameron Raney	26:12.7
36th	Daniel Welling	26:15.3
39th	Jack Girard	26:26.3
45th	Connor Brooks	26:43.1
51st	Tyler Gaines	26:55.2
52nd	Caleb Brady	26:56.8
54th	Parker Graham	26:59.8
58th	Trevor Cross	27:10.2
59th	Skyler Jensen	27:10.7
64th	Dennis Olsen	27:23.3
65th	Joshua White	27:29.0
76th	Dillon Mantei	28:25.0