Courtesy of Norfolk State Athletic Communications


NORFOLK, Va. – When the spring sports season was shut down, it marked the end of a decade of Norfolk State athletics. From the fall of 2010 to the spring of 2020, it was a 10-year stretch that saw countless highlights across NSU's 15 total sports. Many of those programs' greatest achievements – since NSU made the jump to NCAA Division I in 1997 – came during this decade.
 
Over the course of the next few months, we are going to spotlight those storylines right here on NSUSpartans.com. Every week, we'll choose a different sport(s) and take you down memory lane before we get set to start a new decade of excellence. In addition, head over to our Twitter page (@NSUSpartans) where fans will have the opportunity to vote for what they think is the greatest highlight per sport. At the end, they will also be able to vote for the greatest overall highlight in NSU athletics during the past 10 years.
 
After spotlighting the women earlier this week, we will finish our double dose of highlights with men's cross country. We've narrowed it down to five storylines from the past decade that we'll focus on, in no particular order.
 
A.) If there was ever such a thing as a rout in cross country, the NSU men's team accomplished it in 2017. Thanks to having the second through fifth-place finishers, the Spartans ran away with the MEAC title that year. They finished with 25 points, 59 points ahead of second-place Maryland Eastern Shore. Norfolk State won its 12^th title, and the first since 2011. They also gained a bit of revenge on the Hawks, who had won the team title the year before by just one point over NSU. Anteneh Girma, Bill Kemboi, Ronald Korir and Felix Kiprotich finished second-fifth in that order to help the Spartans claim the 2017 trophy.
Read more about NSU's 2017 MEAC title.
 
B.) He was a four-time All-MEAC honoree. And as a senior in 2011, Josef Tessema won the men's individual cross country championship. He became the fourth different NSU runner to win the individual title, and he gave NSU its sixth individual title in a nine-year span. He had twice placed fourth at the championship, and ninth one other time, before winning it all in 2011. Tessema never lost a team championship during his career. The NSU men won the MEAC cross country, indoor track and outdoor track championships all four of his years from the fall of 2008 to the spring of 2012. At the height of NSU's dominance in the cross country and track and field, Tessema was there leading the way.
Read more of Tessema's bio.
 
C.) Two years after taking the title in 2017, NSU did it again in 2019. Behind the top three finishers, and four of the top five, the Spartans won their MEAC record 13^th title to close out the decade for cross country. Head coach Kenneth Giles was named the MEAC Most Outstanding Coach for the 13^th time for leading the Spartans to victory. NSU finished with 25 points, ahead of second-place North Carolina A&T with 40. Evans Cheruiyot and Lelei Too placed second and third, respectively, and Girma rounded out a strong NSU contingent by coming in fifth. Festus Bett also earned All-MEAC status by placing 14^th, giving the Spartans five all-conference honorees for the meet. We will highlight the fifth all-conference honoree next.
Read more about NSU's 2019 MEAC title.
 
D.) Just a sophomore in cross country, Meshack Kipchirchir helped the Spartans capture that 2019 trophy by winning the individual MEAC title in 2019. It marked the first championship for the Norfolk State men since Tessema in 2011. Kipchirchir became the fifth different NSU runner to place first at the MEAC Championship, and he gave the Spartans their seventh overall individual first-place finish in the process. Kipchirchir was named the CAA Cross Country Rookie of the Year in 2018 at Hofstra, then joined NSU for the spring of 2019. After a strong showing in track and field that spring, he did even more in cross country in the fall. With more collegiate eligibility at his disposal, Kipchirchir and his teammates are primed to start a new decade on the right foot.
Read more of Kipchirchir's bio.
 
E.) If the Spartans ended the decade on a good note, they certainly began it the same way. In 2011, behind Tessema's first-place performance, they won their fourth straight MEAC title and the 11^th in a 12-year span. Nathnael Meseret (fifth), Vincent Rono (sixth), Amos Kipkosgei (eighth) and Philemon Kimutai (10^th) all joined Tessema in earning All-MEAC honors. Technically, the decade had started with NSU's championship in the fall of 2010, but the 2011 title marked the conclusion of a streak that the MEAC may be hard pressed to see again. The Spartans won every men's cross country title from 2000-06, and then again from 2008-11. Among the MEAC's different sports, only Bethune-Cookman in baseball and South Carolina State in men's and women's tennis can claim a similar streak of at least 11 MEAC Championships in a 12-year period.
Read more about NSU's 2011 MEAC title.