By Roscoe Nance
The MEAC can look back on a rich tradition of excellence as it prepares for its 30
th Indoor Track and Field Championships at Landover, Md. Feb. 17-19.
Its champions over the years have included numerous Olympians, All-
Americans and world record holders. The tradition of excellence continues as more than two dozen individuals and teams are in the top 50 times and distances in their events.
"Every team can compete with the big schools. That makes our conference better,'' says Delaware State coach Duane Henry, a sprinter for the Hornets from 1979-83 and the 1983 65 meter indoor champion. "During the conference championship, you go in there knowing it's going tot be a battle because there are so many good kids.''
Henry is in his 16th season at the helm of the Hornets. He says the conference has always been highly competitive in certain events. But in recent years the competitive level has risen across the board and all schools have student-athletes capable of breakout performances.
"Every school has somebody,'' he says. "When I first got here (as coach) certain events were easy. We have more quality (athletes) than we used to have.''
That is especially true in the sprints.
On the men's side Hampton junior Reggie Dixon has the third fastest in the nation in the 60 meters at 6.58 seconds. Norfolk State freshman James Taylor is .08 of a second behind him with the 14th fastest time, 6.66. Taylor's 21.08 is 16th best time in the nation for the 200 meters; Dixon has the 18th best at 21.11, and Sean Holston, also from Norfolk State is 26th in the nation 21.18.
On the women's side, Nickesha Williams of Bethune-Cookman (7.44) and Shanneka Claiborne of Norfolk State (7.46) are in the top 50 in the nation in the 60 meters and 1-2 in the conference. Racquel Vassell and Breanna Norman of Hampton are within .9 seconds of Claiborne's time. Vassell is 29th in the nation in the 200 meters at 23.96. Claiborne (24.93), Williams (24.93) and Morgan State's Tanisha Kendricks (24.95) are next in line in the conference stats behind Vassell.
Maryland Eastern Shore coach Ernest Barrett says the pool of athletes in the MEAC is testimony to the coaches' ability to develop talent and member schools' academic standing.
"You have to have good coaches to build programs,'' he says. "Our philosophy is not about just competing against each other. We want to lift the conference up and compete against other conferences. It's not just athletics. Kids realize they can get a great education at our schools. They are realizing that, their parents are realizing that.''
This is Barrett's 10th season as coach Maryland Eastern Shore and 15th in the MEAC after spending his first five years in the conference at Coppin State. He says one of the major changes he has seen in the conference is schools are competing in a wider range of events, having added the 5,000 meter run and the women's pole vault.
"We were picking and choosing what events we didn't want to do,'' Barrett says. "We now have all the track and field events that are being contested. We're continuing to develop the sport."
Neville Hodge Jr., in his 17th season as coach at Morgan State, was an MEAC champion sprinter when he competed for the Bears from the 1976-80. He attributes the increased competitiveness in the conference to a change in the approach to coaching athletes. When he competed, there was one coach for all of the athletes. Now, he says, coaching is specialized with assistant coaches focusing a specific event.
"Athletes are spending more time with the coach,'' he says. "They are preparing a lot different. You don't have one coach covering all the bases.''
That has contributed to faster times and longer distances in recent years. Fifteen records - nine on the men's side and six on the women's side - have been set in the past two championships alone.
Coppin State coach Carl Hicks, in his 12th season, says the stage could very well be set for record-setting performances at this year's championship. Dixon set the record at the Indoor Championships in 2009 with a time of 6.71. He has topped that time five times this season, including the 6.58 that he ran in the finals of the Penn State Invitational last month.
Taylor has bettered the Indoor Championships record time twice this season. Holston set the 200 meter record, 21.32 last year. He, Taylor and Dixon have all eclipsed that time this season.
Three-time indoor champion Donte Holmes of Delaware State, who set the record with a time of 1:51.9 in 2009, heads the field for the 800 meters. Holmes' best time this season has been 1:50.27 at the New Balance Invitational in New York last month.
On the women's side, Cynthia Anais (2:07.95) of Maryland Eastern Shore and Alaine Tate of Hampton (2:10.53) this season have beaten Merrecia James' MEAC record time of 2:10.57 set in 2007; Maryland Eastern Shore's 4x400 meter relay team was clocked at 3:35..22 in December, nearly a full second better Delaware State's record time of 3:36.08 set in 1984.
"A lot of good stages are set for good showings,'' says Hicks, a two-time MEAC 800 meter champion as a student-athlete at Coppin State. "We have the capability and talent to do it. It all depends on how bad they want it.''