MELBOURNE, Fla. – As voted upon by league administrators and head coaches, former Nova Southeastern University cross country and track standout Kevin Meagher was officially named as a second-team member of the Sunshine State Conference Men’s Cross Country All-Decade Team on Friday, January 8.
Hailing from Mansfield, Massachusetts, Meagher was a four-time captain for the Sharks under head coach Bryan Hagopian, leading the Sharks to their 2012 Conference and South Region Championships during his senior season. A three-time All-South Region honoree (2009, 2011, 2012), Meagher kicked off his career on a solid rookie campaign in 2009, helping NSU to an SSC Runner-Up finish with a ninth-place individual SSC finish – the Sharks going on to their first appearance at the NCAA Championships that year, the first of three during his career.
“We’re pretty excited about Kevin being named to the All-Decade Team,” Hagopian said. “I’ve never had a runner receive that honor before in my history of coaching and having one of our student-athletes receive that prestigious honor is very exciting – I’m pumped up about it. When I recruited him, coming in as a freshman I knew there was something special about him, just not how special he would become. His brother, Matt, ran for me and said ‘you need to look at my brother’ and we had these siblings running together and making it to Nationals for the first time. He was a leader for us winning the Conference and Region – he’s done a lot of great things for the program and he’s been nothing but a great face for the Sharks cross country program. He’s one of a kind and very deserving of this honor.”
Across his 34 races for the Sharks, Meagher garnered 13 top-10 finishes and a seven crossing the line among the top five. He was named to the All-SSC first team in 2009, 2011 and 2012, finishing fourth at the 2011 SSC Championships and second at the 2012 SSC Championships. He was named to the SSC All-Championship Team all four years of his career. He also registered a then-school record 10k time of 32:04.10 at his final NCAA Championships in 2012.
Voters named Fifteen student-athletes from six programs as All-Decade honorees. Runner of the Decade and Coach of the Decade accolades went to Saint Leo University’s Ronald Cheserek and Kent Reiber. All-Decade voting took place among the league’s administrators and cross country coaches.
These SSC All-Decade awards include every SSC Runner of he Year from 2010 to 2019 and six athletes who were named Freshman of the Year during their careers. Additionally, four men earned three or more All-SSC First Team nods in that stretch: Bobby Ormsby and Mason Jones from Florida Southern College and Rafal Matuszczak and Valentin Lenz from Saint Leo. Although Meagher garnered three, his first was awarded in the previous decade.
SSC Men’s Cross Country from 2010 to 2019
Over the last 10 years, five SSC programs have hoisted the SSC meet trophy, led by Saint Leo with four wins and Florida Southern with three titles. FSC took home two regional championships (2013-14), while Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (2018), Nova Southeastern University (2012), and Saint Leo (2015) all have one banner. Six schools reached the NCAA finals site a total of 16 times over the past decade. Saint Leo made the finals six times, including five straight from 2013 to 2017, followed by Florida Southern with five appearances. Nova Southeastern made it twice, and Embry-Riddle, Florida Tech, and Tampa represented the conference once.
For a complete list of the SSC Men’s Cross Country All-Decade Teams, click here.
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