Tampa Captures 16th SSC Women's Cross Country Title

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Embry-Riddle men's and Tampa women's teams claimed the 2020-21 SSC Cross Country Championships. The 2020-21 championships were hosted by Palm Beach Atlantic University at the Rinker Athletic Campus in West Palm Beach on Saturday, February 27th.

2020-21 Men's Cross Country Championship Recap

Embry-Riddle finished with 38 team points to capture the program's second SSC championship. Four Eagle runners finished Top-10, including top ERAU finisher, Paul Kraemer who finished fourth. Florida Southern placed second with 54 points and two Top-3 finishers, while Tampa came in third with 69 points thanks to two runners within the Top-7.

Men's Team Scores:
1. Embry-Riddle - 38 
2. Florida Southern - 54
3. Tampa - 69
4. Saint Leo - 82
5. Palm Beach Atlantic - 121
T6. Lynn - 172
T6. Nova Southeastern - 172
8. Florida Tech - 213

FSC's Mason Jones won the SSC Cross Country Championship by finishing the 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:49.41. Jones becomes the 11th FSC men's runner to win the title, first since 2010. Shane Bracken fended off FSC's Joshua Wagner for second place. Finishing in fourth place was ERAU's Kraemer Joshua Wagner, followed by teammate Ryan Szklany. Jones, Bracken, Wagner, and Szklany all finished Top-5 at the 2019 SSC championship.

SSC Men's Cross Country Championship Team
1. Mason Jones, Florida Southern
2. Shane Bracken, Saint Leo
3. Joshua Wagner, Florida Southern
4. Paul Kraemer, Embry-Riddle
5. Ryan Szklany, Embry-Riddle
6. Trevor Kattenberg, Tampa
7. Devon Sullivan, Tampa
8. Micah Blair, Embry-Riddle
9. Mitchell Kozik, Florida Southern
10. Shaun Bullock, Embry-Riddle

2020-21 Women's Cross Country Championship Recap

Tampa bested the field by 29 points to capture its third consecutive, 16th overall SSC Women's Cross Country Championship. All five Spartans finished within the Top-10 runners.  UT now has more league titles in women's cross countries than the other seven active programs' collective total. Palm Beach Atlantic University collected a program-record finish, edging Florida Southern, 70 to 75, for second place.

Women's Team Scores:
1. Tampa - 41
2. Palm Beach Atlantic - 70
3. Florida Southern - 75
4. Embry-Riddle - 108
T5. Nova Southeastern - 130
T5. Saint Leo - 130
7. Lynn - 165

Finishing the 6,000-meter race with a time of 22:34.88, Paige Patterson becomes the third Saint Leo women's runner to win the SSC individual title and the first since 2017. Alyssa Zack of Embry-Riddle finishes in second place. Last year's champion, Zoe Jarvis of Tampa, finished third.

SSC Women's Cross Country Championship Team
1. Paige Patterson, Saint Leo
2. Alyssa Zack, Embry-Riddle
3. Zoe Jarvis, Tampa
4. Ivanova Yanes, Nova Southeastern
5. Sarah Zamot, Florida Southern
6. Allison Seng, Palm Beach Atlantic
7. Sydney Rhodes, Tampa
8. Anna Sentner, Tampa
9. Dune Costes, Palm Beach Atlantic
10. Alayna Goll, Florida Southern