12/21/2016 1:47:42 PM Top SIAC moments from 2016 Share Tweet Pin it +1 E-mail Print As 2016 comes to an end, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) would like to share its top moments from this year. Check out the list everyday which will feature a new moment from our amazing student-athletes from around the conference. The Miles College men's golf team kicked off our list. The Golden Bears won their first-ever SIAC Men's Golf Championship title on April 20 at Heritage Golf Links in Tucker, Ga. The Golden Bears led the entire duration of the three-day event and finished with a total team score of 962. Benedict, the 2015 SIAC men's golf champions fell by 21 strokes. Miles advanced to the NCAA Division II Southeast Men's Regional and recently finished sixth at the Black College Hall of Fame tournament. The tournament featured Black college teams from Division I and Division II, with the Golden Bears placing second among the five DII collectives. Miles shot a 24-over 600 during the two-day event. The final round (292) was the best in program history. Led by junior Trey Simons, the Morehouse College men's cross country team won the 2016 SIAC Cross Country championship on Friday, Oct. 21 in Rock Hill, S.C. It was the Maroon Tigers' 21st SIAC Cross Country title over the last 23 years. Simons was named Most Valuable Runner after he finished first in a field of 73 runners with a time of 23:32.13 in the 8k race. Teammate Kiplimo Collins finished fourth, while Jared Allen was sixth and Christian Dixon finished tenth. All seven Morehouse runners finished in the top 20. Morehouse Head Coach Willie Hill was named the 2016 SIAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. Up next is Claflin University. With two runners on base and two outs, Reginald Rogers singled through the left side to score Jeturi Brown in the bottom of 10th inning as the Claflin University baseball team defeated Stillman College, 8-7, to capture the 2016 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Title. The Panthers won four straight games in the tournament in route to capturing the school's first-ever SIAC baseball title. The Panthers also made their inaugural appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship as a No. 7 seed in the South Regional at Tampa, Fla. (May 19-22). The Panthers were eliminated following losses to No. 2 West Florida and sixth-seeded West Georgia. Additionally, the Claflin University baseball team was honored in May during a special presentation in the S.C. House of Representatives. Only teams that have won a championship have the opportunity to join representatives on the House floor. During the visit, Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, and the Orangeburg contingency presented head coach James Randall and the team with a proclamation outlining their achievements. The Benedict College Tigers women's basketball team had a season to remember last year. The Lady Tigers captured their second SIAC championship in three years. Benedict advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division II South Region tournament, falling to Florida Southern. Benedict finished the season ranked in the top 10 in several polls and wrapped up the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 29-3. KSU played in its first SIAC football championship game on Nov. 12. Kentucky State University lost a thrilling 33-30 double overtime SIAC Championship game to Fort Valley State University at the Cramton Bowl. In his first season, Coach John Smith led KSU to the west division title with a 3-1 record in SIAC divisional games. The Thorobreds defeated nationally-ranked Tuskegee, 10-9 on the road on Oct. 22. KSU also took down the reigning SIAC football champions, Miles College 28-24 on Oct. 15. Coach Smith was named the 2016 SIAC Football Coach of the Year along with quarterback Jules St. Ge who was named the SIAC Freshman of the Year. Six other Thorobreds were tabbed for SIAC honors. The Wildcats won the 2016 SIAC football championship for the 12th time in program history with a 33-30 double overtime victory over Kentucky State University at the Cramton Bowl. Fort Valley State's other championships came in 1970, 71, 72, 76, 80, 82, 83, 85, 91, 92 and 1999. Junior running back Chauncey Jackson was named 2016 SIAC Championship Most Valuable Player and Kevin Porter the 2016 SIAC Championship Outstanding Coach of the Game Award. The Wildcats also placed Otis Brown, Brian Walker, Juan Serna, Brian Cornish, and Samuel Goode on the 2016 SIAC Football All-Conference Team. Benedict College highlights the list again with its men's and women's tennis programs capturing the SIAC titles in the same year. Both programs represented the SIAC in the NCAA tournament. The Benedict College men's tennis team captured the SIAC Championship for the second year in a row with a 6-1 victory over Morehouse College on April 9th at the Clayton County Tennis Complex. Benedict's Nathanial Pinkney was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and coach Gary Taylor was named Most Outstanding Coach. Benedict won all four singles matches that were completed. Along with Pinkney, Takudswa Muswere and Zibusiso Ndimande were named to the All-Tournament team in singles. Pinkney and Eloise and Payton and Hernandez were named All-Tournament in doubles. The women's tennis team won the SIAC Championship with a 5-1 victory over Tuskegee. Benedict swept all three doubles matches to take a 3-0 lead. Karla Flores and Esther Zelaya took an 8-4 victory at No. 1 doubles. Daniella Rios and Danyelle Copeland took an 8-1 victory at No. 2 doubles. Juliet Campbell and Adrienne Milow took an 8-2 victory at No. 3 doubles. In singles action, Copeland took a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Kayla Triche at No. 4 singles. Rios, named the Tournament MVP, rallied for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Navilla Paul at No. 3 singles to clinch the match. Taylor was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Coach. Joining Rios on the All-Tournament team from Benedict were Copeland and Zelaya in singles, and Rios and Copeland and Karla Flores and Zelaya in doubles. Tuskegee head coach Willie Slater reached a mark that only one other coach has reached during his time at Tuskegee University and that coach has his name on the stadium in which the Golden Tigers play every Saturday – Cleve L. Abbott. With their win over Miles College on Nov. 5, Tuskegee handed Slater his 100th victory in his career – all at Tuskegee – in just 11 seasons at the helm. That is an average of nine wins per season for Slater, and the head man has recorded a 101-27 record over that time. During his time at the helm of the Golden Tigers, Slater has recorded nine or more wins on nine different occasions – a school record, as it is one more than Abbott – and has recorded winning seasons in 10 of the 11 seasons he has been at Tuskegee. Credit is something that Slater deserves for his milestone. Not many coaches in the state of Alabama – at their current school – can say that have 100 victories at that institution. As a matter of fact, there are just two active coaches in the state that have at least 100 victories at their current institution; Willie Slater (Tuskegee) and Nick Saban (Alabama). During his time at Tuskegee, Slater has helped the Golden Tigers have the best record in the state in the decade of the 2000s (95-17) with 11 more wins than any institution in the state at any level. They finished 11 wins ahead of North Alabama, 13 ahead of Auburn and 25 ahead of Alabama. In the 2010s decade, the Golden Tigers are currently fifth in the state in wins (47) and trail Alabama (71), Jacksonville State (53), Auburn (50) and North Alabama (50). During his 11-year stint, Slater has claimed three HBCU National Championships (2006 and 2015), six Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships (2006-09 and 2014) and has been to four consecutive NCAA Division II playoffs. Slater led the Golden Tigers to their highest ranking in school history in the NCAA AFCA Division II Top 25 poll. Tuskegee had been ranked as high as seventh in 2001 and 2002. Competing in his first Olympic games, Claflin University men’s track standout Brandon Valentine-Parris -- the university’s first Olympian in program history -- ran in the 400 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics, in front of a worldwide television audience. Valentine-Parris, who represented his country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, ran in the heat alongside reigning world champion Wayde van Niekerk, who finished first in the heat. Valentine-Parris came in eighth with a time of 47.62 seconds. Valentine-Parris earned three All-Region Honors for the 2016 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field season.Valentine-Parris earned individual All-Region honors in the 200 and 400 meters. He was also a member of the 4x400 meter relay team. For the 13th consecutive year, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) led all NCAA Division II conferences in football attendance in 2015 which was released in May 2016. The SIAC has now led all NCAA Division II conferences in football attendance for 24 of the last 26 seasons dating back to the 1990 season. Since 1990, the SIAC has led NCAA Division II football attendance 24 times including totaling an attendance of at least 300,000 on 18 occasions. During the 2015 season SIAC fans recorded an attendance of 328,016 from all football institutions in the conference. The average attendance at SIAC games last year was 6,074. Among the most well attended games last season were the Morehouse-Tuskegee Classic (23,345), the Circle City Classic featuring Central State and Kentucky State (22,523), and the Fountain City Classic between Albany State and Fort Valley State (17,856). Four SIAC institutions ranked in the top 15 of the 2015 NCAA Division II Football Attendance Team Leaders category. Tuskegee was second followed by Albany State in sixth, Morehouse in 11th and Fort Valley State at 15th.