MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Tech captures the men’s division of the Sunshine State Conference Mayors’ Cup all-sports trophy. This marks the third Mayors’ Cup for the Panthers and the first since 2011-12.
First presented following the 1986-87 academic year, the award was traditionally sponsored by the Mayors of the nine communities in which SSC member institutions are located.
SSC Mayors' Cup History | 2016-17 Points Breakdown
“Congratulations to President McCay, Bill Jurgens and the entire Florida Tech Athletic Department and student-athlete community on an outstanding academic year,” commented SSC Commissioner Ed Pasque.
In the men’s division, points are awarded based on final regular-season conference standings in baseball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, and tennis*. Points are awarded based on a team’s finish at their respective conference championship event for cross-country, golf, and swimming.
Florida Tech amassed 38 points across eight conference sports to win the award for a third time. Following the Fall/Winter sport seasons, the Panthers sat in second place with 17 points. FIT earned those points with a second place finish in soccer, fourth in cross country, fourth in swimming, and seventh in basketball.
The Panthers rallied to score 21 points in the Spring following Top-3 finishes in three sports. FIT was second in lacrosse, third in baseball, third at the golf championship, and sixth in the tennis standings. Florida Tech won its first Mayors’ Cup outright in 1992 and shared the award with Florida Southern College in 2012.
Barry University and the University of Tampa tie for second place with 36 points in the final Mayors’ Cup standings. Barry earned 25 of their points with league championships in basketball, golf, and tennis. The Buccaneers also finished fourth in soccer and fifth in baseball.
The Spartans led the race following the Fall/Winter sports seasons with 19 points. UT finished third in soccer and swimming, followed by fourth in basketball and then fifth in cross country. Tampa grabbed Spring championships in baseball and lacrosse to force a tie for second place.
Florida Tech Panthers
Florida Tech’s men’s golf team finished fourth in the South Region tournament and earned a spot in the National Championship tournament. The 2017 event will be played May 22 – 26 at Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida.
In the winter, the Panthers had multiple student-athletes named All-American following their performances at the 2016-17 NCAA Division II Swimming National Championship. Florida Tech finished 13th overall as a team and won the 200 Freestyle Relay national title.
During the fall, FIT gained entry into the South Region soccer tournament. The Panthers fell in the opening match 2-1 to Palm Beach Atlantic University. Florida Tech competed as a team in the regional cross country championship, finishing 10th of 17 teams.
2016-17 Mayors’ Cup Men’s Division
1. Florida Tech – 38
T2. Barry – 36
T2. Tampa – 36
4. Florida Southern – 33
5. Lynn – 32
6. Saint Leo – 29
7. Rollins – 25.5
8. Nova Southeastern – 24
9. Eckerd – 17.5
*Ties in the SSC regular season standings for soccer, basketball, tennis, baseball, and lacrosse are broken by head-to-head competition. Those ties that cannot be broken with head-to-head competition result in a split of Mayors’ Cup points.