NORFOLK, Va., Nov. 3, 2022 – This Saturday’s episode of Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Coca-Cola, will make history – featuring two female show hosts for the first time.
 
Television sportscasters Nicole Hutchison and Sha’Quira Martin will be at the desk at the new MEAC Digital Network studio to bring fans a look at Saturday’s games. Hutchison, who is currently based out of FOX 56 in Lexington, Ky., is in her second season on Countdown to Kickoff, while Martin is in her first season.
 
Martin, who currently works for the American Red Cross, has worked at TV stations in Lafayette, La., and Wichita, Kan., and her work has also been featured on such outlets as Bleacher Report.
 
“Nicole and Sha’Quira have been a tremendous part of what the MEAC is doing with Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Coca-Cola, sharing our message and our stories, and I’m proud to have them both sitting at the big desk in the brand-new MEAC Digital Network studio,” MEAC Commissioner Sonja Stills said. “For the MEAC to make this kind of history on the 50^th anniversary of Title IX, to further grow the role women play in athletics, is exciting and momentous. I couldn’t be prouder of what Nicole and Shaquira represent – for the MEAC, for HBCUs, and for athletics as a whole.”
 
Saturday’s episode will air on ESPN+ at 11 a.m.

 
 
About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 52^nd year of intercollegiate competition with the 2022-23 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically Black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.