Florida Tech men's team travels to Missouri
By Chris Fish
cfish@hometownnewsol.com
BREVARD - For the first time in the history of the program, the Florida Tech men's cross country team will be competing in the NCAA Division II National Championship.
"This has been a goal of ours. We fell short last year," said Pete Mazzone, Florida Tech's head cross country coach. "We stayed healthy throughout the whole campaign this season, and it's working out well."
The men's cross country team qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championship after two top-five finishes at the NCAA Division II South Regional at Sharon Johnston Park in Madison County, Ala. After the two top- five finishes, the team had an overall rank of third place, enough to qualify for the national competition.
The NCAA Division II National Championship will be held on Saturday, Nov. 17, in Joplin, Mo.
"We want to compete," Coach Mazzone said. "I anticipate a couple of our individuals to become All Americans. That will be the first time a male athlete from our school has done that."
Along with the qualification for the NCAA Division II National Championship, graduate student Chris Cacciapaglia was named the Sunshine-State Conference Runner of the Year.
While this is the first time the men's team has qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships, senior Moses Kirui was named the top South Region runner last year and qualified for the national championships, held in Spokane, Wash.
At the NCAA Division II South Regional competition, Mr. Kirui and Mr. Cacciapaglia finished second and third, respectively. Runner David Boiywo had a top-25 finish, and Ross Russell and Ezekiel Zauner completed the scoring for Florida Tech with 39th and 48th finishes.