Eagle men notch first XC national ranking
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (October 9, 2020) – Tallahassee Community College's men's cross country team snagged a piece of school history on Wednesday, earning a No. 18 ranking in the NJCAA Division II poll, released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
This marks the Eagles' first national ranking since the program debuted in 2016 with the launch of the women's team.
The 2020 season is Division II's first with the NJCAA and all one but of Florida's ten cross country programs took advantage of the opportunity to compete on a more level playing field from a national perspective.
Four of the state's five men's programs are in the Division II poll, led by No. 4 Daytona State College. Lake-Sumter State College is tied for No. 9 and Florida State College-Jacksonville is ranked No. 20.
The Eagles' No. 18 ranking comes on the heels of their first team-scoring event of the season, an eighth-place finish in the college division of the FSU Invitational on October 2.
Sophomore Mat Maier was the team's top performer at Apalachee Regional Park, posting a school-record time of 27:52.9 in the 8K, 17 seconds faster than the previous record.
Sophomore Will Stratton and freshman Bryce Bass clocked times that ranked in the top ten all-time for the Eagles.
The Eagle men and women are scheduled to host the TCC Eagle Invite at the ARP on Saturday, October 17.
Congratulations to the @TCCEagles men's XC team on receiving their first @NJCAAXCTF national ranking in program history today. Proud to support this program and the great things Coach Gary Droze and @RobChaneyAD are doing to grow this program! #RunWithUs #TCCXC pic.twitter.com/OdiD2litbs
— Jason Hendrix (@JasonMHendrix) October 8, 2020