BALTIMORE – The Coppin State men’s and women’s cross-country teams will be spending plenty of quality time commuting between Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore during the 2015 season.
The six-meet schedule features four races at Delaware State and two at UMES.
“We’re looking forward to competing at a high level again this year,” Coppin State head men’s cross-country coach Carl Hicks said. “The guys understand that each and every race has a great deal of importance to our overall development throughout the season. Our goal is to be running at our peak during the MEAC championships and possibly have some regional qualifiers.”
The Eagles begin their season on Saturday, Sept. 5 with the Lid-Lifter hosted by UMES. The following week, Coppin State heads to Delaware State for the Hornet Invite on Saturday, Sept. 12. Coppin State returns to UMES for the annual Cappie Anderson Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 19.
Coppin State will spend the entire month of October competing at Delaware State’s Farm Run Course in Smyrna. The Eagles will participate in a pair of Friday afternoon meets on October 2 and 16. Delaware State will also serve as the site of the 2015 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships for the second consecutive year on Saturday, Oct. 30.
If Coppin State has any regional qualifiers they will compete on Friday, Nov. 13 at Princeton in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals. The annual IC4A/ECAC Championship meet will be held at Van Cortlandt Satte Park in New York on Nov. 21 with the NCAA Championships being held that same day at the University of Louisville for those that qualify.
On the men’s side, Coppin State returns all five scorers from last year’s MEAC championships. The Eagles finished third overall thanks to all-MEAC performances from sophomore Mark London and junior Alaric Coker. It was Coppin State’s best finish in over 10 years. London was sixth as he completed the 8-kilometer course in 27 minutes, 45.3 seconds.
Coker was 13th (28:01.8) overall. Junior Michael James was 16th overall while junior Fabian Hayles and senior Delroy Davis finished among the top 30 during last year’s championship meet.
Juniors Kadeem Curtis and Alexis Marsh will lead the women’s cross-country team. They both competed at last year’s MEAC championship meet and provide experience for the Lady Eagles.
“We are excited to begin the season,” Coppin State head women’s cross-country coach Alecia Shields-Gadson said. “Our goal is to improve with each meet and compete at a high level. This schedule will give us a chance to evaluate our team while providing us the competitive challenges we need for good progression leading into the MEAC championships.”