FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The #NSU50 "Top Moments in NSU Athletics History" continues with the 29th moment on the list: Nova Southeastern University cross country runner Eskender Abdalla earns program's first Sunshine State Conference Runner of the Year award.
  
Abdalla came to NSU prior to the 2005 cross country season and made an immediate impact on the program. A native of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, Abdalla was recruited out of Houston, Texas' George Bush HS. There, Abdalla was the school's best runner and would even earn Team MVP honors as a high school freshman. As a college freshman, he would replicate that feat by becoming the Sharks' most consistent runner. He adjusted to the life of a student-athlete quickly, earning USTFCCCA Scholar All-American honors as a freshman.
 
By his junior year, Abdalla had already earned two NSU Team MVP honors, became an All-SSC Second Team honoree and set new program records. During his first season competing on the track and field team in the spring of 2007, Abdalla received NCAA All-South Region honors. That fall, Abdalla would continue to improve his resume.
 
In the fall of 2007, Abdalla claimed SSC Runner of the Year honors after posting five top-10 finishes in the Sharks' six races that season. Included among those performances was a third-place finish at the Tampa Early Bird Classic and a fifth-place finish at Augusta State's Jaguar Classic. The junior also crossed the line in sixth place at the FLRunners.com Invitational, in seventh place at the SSC Championship and in ninth at the Sodexho Hatter Invitational. Abdalla was named SSC Runner of the Week four times in 2007.
 
In the final meet of the year, Abdalla placed 18th at the NCAA South Region Championship with a then-record time of 33:38. Most importantly, he led the Sharks to a seventh-place finish, the highest the team had ever placed at the regional meet.
 
Abdalla's historic 2007 season paved the way for both the men's and women's teams' rise over the last seven years. Five years later in 2012, the men's cross country team won its first SSC Championship. Prior to 2012, only Florida Southern and Tampa had won the conference championship since 1997. In 2013, Alex Palm would become the second student-athlete and first female to earn SSC Runner of the Year honors. Although many accomplished runners have joined the Sharks since Abdalla's historic run, his best times in the 5K and 8K still rank among the program's top-5 fastest finishes. 

Check back with NSUSharks.com next Tuesday for the next #NSU50 "Top Moments in NSU Athletics History."

Moment No. 1: NSU Athletics is Born
Moment No. 2: Knights Chosen as School Mascot
Moment No. 3: Hansley Hired as Director of Athletics
Moment No. 4: Nova Adds Four Sports
Moment No. 5: Nova Joins NAIA
Moment No. 6: Nova Adds Three More Teams
Moment No. 7: Nova Helps Form FIAC
Moment No. 8: Nova Wins First Conference Championship
Moment No. 9: Baseball and Volleyball Win First Conference Titles
Moment No. 10: NSU Adds Softball
Moment No. 11: NSU Adds Women's Soccer and Wins FSC Tournament Championship
Moment No. 12: NSU Names Ray Ferrero Jr. as School's Fifth President
Moment No. 13: NSU Adds Women's Basketball and Wins Conference Title in First Season
Moment No. 14: NSU Jumps to NCAA Division II and Sunshine State Conference
Moment No. 15: Kyle Ruwe Becomes NSU's First NCAA All-American
Moment No. 16: NSU adds Rowing, Tennis and Men's Cross Country
Moment No. 17: NSU Breaks Ground on University Center
Moment No. 18: Rembe Becomes NSU's First Female NCAA All-American
Moment No. 19: NSU Men's Golf Wins First SSC Championship
Moment No. 20: NSU Unveils Sharks as New Mascot
Moment No. 21: NSU Enshrines Inaugural Hall of Fame Class
Moment No. 22: Women's Golfer Garcia Austt Becomes NSU's First-Ever NCAA Player and Freshman of Year
Moment No. 23: NSU Tennis Goes Program-Best 22-3
Moment No. 24: NSU Volleyball Hosts the Inaugural Sharks Classic
Moment No. 25: NSU Begins Outdoor Track and Field Programs
Moment No. 26: NSU Volleyball Earns First-Ever NCAA Postseason BidMoment No. 28: NSU Wins Women's Division of 2007-08 SSC Mayors' Cup

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