About The MEAC | 8/2/2024 12:45:41 PM

PARIS, France, August 1, 2024: The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) has five world-class alumni participating in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Athletes representing the MEAC include Coppin State's Joseph Amoah, Howard's Jessica Gbai, as well as former MEAC member alumnus Hampton's Chidi Okezie and Bethune-Cookman's Sade McCreath and Monae' Nichols.
 
Amoah (CSU, 2016-2021) is a native of Accra, Ghana, and is making his second straight Olympic appearance in men's track and field. He will compete for Ghana in the men's 4x100m relay on August 8 at 5:35 a.m. E.T. He aims to qualify for the final race on August 9. 
 
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Amoah anchored the men's 4x100m relay team, helping Ghana advance to the finals and setting a national record with a time of 38.08. 
 
Amoah was a seven-time USTFCCCA All-American and the 2019 and 2021 Mid-Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year. He is a MEAC record holder in the men's 100m and 200m dash, sitting second all-time with a time of 10.00 seconds flat in the 100m and third all-time in the 200m at 20.08. 
 
Gbai (HOW, 2017-2022) will be making her Olympic debut, representing the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) on the women's track and field team at the 2024 Summer Games. Her first appearance will be in the women's 200m dash on Sunday, August 4, at 4:55 a.m. E.T., and the women's 4x100m relay on Thursday, August 8, at 5:10 a.m. E.T.
 
During her career at Howard, Gbai was a USTFCCCA All-America First Team awardee, MEAC first-team all-conference member, and holds a MEAC all-time record in the 4x400m relay after a historic team performance at the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Individually, she picked up All-America Second Team honors after finishing 12th in the 200m dash.
  
Okezie (HAMP, 2011-2015) is on the marks for his second Olympic appearance, competing for his native country, Nigeria, in track and field. Okezie will participate in the 4x400m mixed relay event, on Friday, August 2 at 1:15 p.m. E.T. and follows by running on the men's 4x400m relay team on Thursday, August 8 at 5:35 a.m. E.T. 
 
Hampton's All-American sprinter was awarded All-MEAC honors in both indoor and outdoor track, in the 200m and 400m dash, and in the 4x400m relay.
 
Okezie was part of the United States 4x400m relay team that won a gold medal at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona. He reached the finals of the 400m dash at the 2018 Commonwealth Games while also running the anchor leg of the 4x400m relays. At the 2018 African Championships, Okezie earned a bronze medal in the 400m dash event while also anchoring the Nigerian 4x400m relay team which earned a bronze medal.
 
McCreath (B-CU, 2016-2019) will make her Olympic debut, competing for Canada in women's track and field. She will appear in the women's 4x100m relay, slated for Thursday, August 8 at 5:10 a.m. E.T. 
 
McCreath was a part of the women's 4x100m relay team for Canada, which recorded a second-place finish at the 2024 World Athletics Relays Bahamas, securing Canada's spot in the summer games. She made her first World Championship appearance at the 2024 World Indoor Championships, finishing 32nd in the 60m dash. She was a gold medalist in the 60m at 2023 Canadian Indoor Championships.  
 
In 2018, McCreath earned an All-American honorable mention at Bethune-Cookman, where she anchored the women's 4x400m relay.  
 
Nichols (B-CU, 2018-2020) is slated to compete on the USA Women's Track and Field squad. Nichols will take flight in the women's long jump on Tuesday, August 6 at 5:15 p.m. E.T. She punched her ticket to the Paris Olympics after earning bronze at the USA Olympic Trials with a 6.86m leap.  
 
At Bethune-Cookman, Nichols won gold in the women's long jump finals at the 2018 MEAC Championships, earning her a MEAC first-team all-conference award.


About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 53rd year of intercollegiate competition with the 2023-24 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.