Brent Turner Named All-SSC
Earns second-team honors for Spartans.
MELBOURNE, Fla. – Fourteen student-athletes have been selected to the 2017 All-Sunshine State Conference Men's Cross Country Teams. Brent Turner was the lone UT runner, honored as a second-team honoree. Saint Leo University boasts the Runner of the Year for the fifth consecutive season. Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year both belong to Florida Southern College.
Turner, a graduate student from West Monroe, La., has been Tampa's top finisher in two of the four races in 2017. He most recently paced the Spartans with an 11th-place finish at the SSC Championships. He was also the fastest UT runner at the Queens Invite and was among Tampa's top three at Valdosta State and the UF Mountain Dew Invite.
SSC Runner, Freshman, and Coach of the Year awards are voted upon by league coaches. Runners who finish Top-14 at the 2017 SSC Men's Cross Country Championship earn All-SSC status, with the first seven finishers making the All-SSC First Team. The 2017 championship took place on October 21st at the South County Regional Park in Boca Raton.
SSC Championship / All-SSC History | Runners / Coaches of the Year
Ronald Cheserek of Saint Leo is named SSC Men's Runner of the Year for the second consecutive year. Cheserek's honor is the fifth straight award winner for the Lions1. The Kitale, Kenya native is also the fifth runner to win the honor twice2. Cheserek earns the award after winning 2017 SSC Championship, making him the first back-to-back winner since current Florida Southern coach Ben Martucci won in 2009 and 2010.
Martucci is selected Coach of the Year by his peers for the second time in his career (2013). It is the 15th time the award has been won by the Moccasins. Martucci led the Florida Southern men's program to its 17th conference championship, first since 2013.
Part of Florida Southern's championship performance came from Freshman of the Year Mason Jones. The Titusville, Florida product finished third for Florida Southern, sixth overall to help the Moccasins capture the title.
The last four SSC Freshman of the Year winners, prior to Jones, adorn the 2017 All-SSC teams and repeat as All-SSC. Along with Runner of the Year honors in 2016, Cheserek was named Freshman of the Year and First Team. Florida Southern's Bobby Ormsby, who was Freshman of the year in 2013, earns All-SSC honors for the fourth time. SLU's Anthony Deleva and FSC's Dean McGregor are named All-SSC for the second time. Deleva was Freshman of the Year in 2014, while McGregor won it in 2015.
Runner of the Year: Ronald Cheserek, Saint Leo
Coach of the Year: Ben Martucci, Florida Southern
Freshman of the Year: Mason Jones, Florida Southern
|
SSC Finish |
First Team |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
|
1 |
Ronald Cheserek^ |
Saint Leo |
So. |
Kitale, Kenya |
|
2 |
Bobby Ormsby^* ~ |
Florida Southern |
Sr. |
Fort Myers, Fla. |
|
3 |
Anthony Deleva^ |
Saint Leo |
Sr. |
Coral Springs, Fla. |
|
4 |
Matt Graves |
Embry-Riddle |
Sr. |
Milford, Mich. |
|
5 |
Dean McGregor^ |
Florida Southern |
Jr. |
Fort Myers, Fla. |
|
6 |
Mason Jones |
Florida Southern |
Fr. |
Titusville, Fla. |
|
7 |
Noah Kemp |
Embry-Riddle |
Sr. |
St. Augustine, Fla. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SSC Finish |
Second Team |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
|
8 |
Tucker Melles |
Florida Tech |
Jr. |
Kansas City, Mo |
|
9 |
Warran Grajalez |
Florida Southern |
So. |
Sarasota, Fla. |
|
10 |
Lukas Hassler |
Florida Tech |
Jr. |
Wolfsberg, Austria |
|
11 |
Tampa |
Gr. |
West Monroe, La. |
|
|
12 |
Ian McQuate |
Nova Southeastern |
Sr. |
Keaau, Hawaii |
|
13 |
Calahan Warren |
Embry-Riddle |
So. |
Auburndale, Fla. |
|
14 |
Stephen Dietz |
Embry-Riddle |
Sr. |
Nooksack, Wash |
^ =2016 All-SSC Selection
* = 2014 All-SSC Selection
~ = 2013 All-SSC Selection
1Ronald Cheserek, 2016; Valentin Lens, 2015; Niclas Bez, 2014; Carl Dunne, 2013
2 Ben Martucci, Florida Southern (2009 & 2010); Tyrone Bell, Florida Southern (2004 & 2005); Elias Gonzales, Tampa (2002 & 2003); Gary Crossan, Florida Southern (1998 & 1999). No runner has won the award more than two times.