By Roscoe Nance
The MEAC Cross Country Championships have been the private playground for the Florida A&M women’s team in recent years. The Lady Rattlers are the six-time defending champions and have won an unprecedented 10 conference titles since 1997.
They are well-positioned to make it seven consecutive crowns Saturday in the 2018 conference meet at the Delaware State Outreach & Research Center course in Smyrna, Del., thanks to the contingent of Kenyan runners that Coach Darlene Moore has recruited.
Florida A&M runners have the top four times in the conference this season and five of the top 10. Emmax Kiplagat leads the way at 5K with a time of 17:12.80. Next is Shalet Mitei at 17:25.00. Merci Rotich is third in the conference at 18:15.70, and she is followed by Nancy Murgor with a time of 18:20.80.
Sharon Kibiwott rounds out the group with a time of 19:06.50, ranking eighth in the MEAC.
However, Norfolk State coach Kenneth Giles, whose team finished third last year, isn’t conceding the title to the Lady Rattlers with junior Martha Bissah, the 2017 individual winner leading the way. Bissah finished first with a record time of 17:16.30 in 2017.
“[Moore] has done a great job to bring in athletes to compete at this level,” Giles said. “Hopefully we can snap that streak. We have a real good team.”
The Spartans placed four runners in the top 15 at the 2017 championships; all four return. They were undone last year when their fifth runner placed 72nd. Giles recruited freshman Fridah Koech to fill that slot. Koech’s sister, Ashah, also runs for the Spartans, and an older sister, Mercy, is a former Norfolk State runner.
“I like our team,” Giles said. “I like the makeup of the team. We added one piece to the puzzle. That should be enough to end their streak.”
Each of Florida A&M’s Kenyan contingent recorded their bests at the Mountain Dew Gator Invitational hosted by the University Florida on Sept. 22, a meet that featured 27 Division I schools and 270 runners. Florida A&M finished fourth behind Florida, North Florida and Florida State. Two Lady Rattlers runners placed in the top 10; Kiplagat finished fifth and Mitei eighth.
The Lady Rattlers also had a strong performance a week earlier as they finished fourth at the University of Montevallo (Ala.) Classic. Three Florida A&M runners placed in the top 20. Kiplagat was third at 18:11.73.
Mitei was 11th with a time of 19:01.80, and Murgor was 20th at 19:29.14.
The Lady Rattlers captured the 2017 MEAC crown with 46 points as five runners finished in the top 14. Kiplagat was the Lady Rattlers’ top finisher in fourth place.
Maryland Eastern Shore, North Carolina A&T State and Howard are other schools that could challenge Florida A&M. North Carolina A&T State and Howard have two runners each with top 10 times in the conference, and Maryland Eastern has one.
G’Jasmyne Butler (18:56.20) of North Carolina A&T State has the seventh-best time; Destiny Stanford (19:07.70) and Melanie White (19:36.40) of Howard have the ninth- and 10th-best times, respectively, and Merci Chematai of Maryland Eastern Shore has the fifth-best time at 18:49.40.
Bethune-Cookman’s Deja Davis posted the MEAC’s sixth-fastest time this past weekend, running 18:55.70 at the Sand Shark Invitational in Blufton, S.C.
North Carolina A&T State could be peaking at the right time. The Aggies, who finished fourth in the 2017 championships, ended the 2018 season with first-place finishes in two of their final three matches. Butler finished first in HBCU Challenge on Oct. 6 while setting the school record for the third consecutive week with a time of 18:52.2. Freshmen Shalah Means (20.05.7) and Monzerad Creary (20:39.9) posted personal bests; juniors Camille Martin (20:29.5) and Khadijah Reid (21:05.2) had season bests.
Florida A&M had been favored to sweep both the men’s and women’s races, but the mean’s team has been declared ineligible. The Rattlers were ranked No. 7 in the South Region by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and had the top six times in the conference.
With the Rattlers out, the field is wide open. Defending champion Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T State and Maryland Eastern Shore figure to compete for the top spot with the Rattlers out of the running.
Giles, who also coaches the Norfolk State men, says with or without Florida A&M, he likes the Spartans’ chances of repeating.
“If you look at, it last year they came in with a lot of fast times,” he said, “and we scored 25 points. I don’t get excited about what they do prior to championships. You have to do it on that day. We should be poised to repeat.”