Tallahassee Community College Celebrates Signings, Introduces Women's Cross Country Coach

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - It's been a pretty exciting year for athletics at Tallahassee Community College. Men's basketball finished State Runner-up, softball is headed to State next week, while baseball is on the verge of clinching a spot in the State Tournament.

Successful teams are led by a crop of stand-out student athletes, and on Tuesday, five of them put pen to paper to continue their career at four year Universities.

Baseball players Rion Murrah and Zach Featherstone inked with High Point and Charlotte respectively, while softball pitcher Alex Cook is headed to Presbyterian College.

Basketball player Stavian Allen signed with Norfolk State, while teammate Rashad Lewis, a Valdosta High School graduate, is Mercer bound. 

"We all enjoy the wins on the court on on the field, and Championships and postseason play, but we're all very pro student first, athlete second," said athletic director Rob Chaney of the day. "I know it's cliche, but we do promote that and this is proof that they have succeeded. They've earned that opportunity to continue their academic and athletic careers and we couldn't be more excited for them."

After the signing ceremony, TCC  introduced it's first ever women's cross country coach in Gary Droze, who's won twenty State Championship as coach of the boys and girls cross country and track teams at Maclay.

Droze, who will still coach at Maclay, said he never though he'd get the chance to start up another program said he's excited for the opportunity.

"This likens back to twenty something years ago when i started at Maclay, I thought where do I find places to run? What kind of uniforms do I wear?" he laughed. "All the stuff that comes with getting started right from scratch. As I drove into campus today, I was looking around for places that might be good running trails for the kids. To me, that's a good thing because that's a challenge, but it's a challenge that's going to be really exciting to overcome."

Women's cross country kicks off in August.