Coppin State men ninth at MEAC Outdoors
By Keith Henry

GREENSBORO, NC- It was a trying time for the Coppin State Eagles at North Carolina A&T’s Irwin Belk Track. But the guys had their successes at the MEAC Outdoor Track Championships earlier this month.

The Norfolk State Spartans dominated the competition again in winning their fifth consecutive title for the men.

Coppin State struggled mightily during the first couple days. But they came out on Saturday and rallied to score all of their 36 points on the third and last day of competition to place ninth overall. Coppin State head coach Carl Hicks said, “We got to be on top of our game at all times. We can’t have a bad day when we come to MEACs. We got to make sure our game is going to be on tight. That’s what we didn’t do on the first day. So I hope we learned to come in here with a strong mentality.”

It was only because of injury that the field events couldn’t score. Long jumper Brandon Miles and three-time defending MEAC pole vault champion was hurt. Miles has had a leg problem for the longest time. Miles couldn’t do much of anything indoors either because of the injury.

Smith got hurt at the wrong possible time. Smith broke his hand as he was practicing for the pole vault event days before the team left for Greensboro. That might’ve been a guaranteed 10 points for Coppin since no one in his event jumped close to the height Smith would’ve cleared.

Hicks said about missing these guys, “We got to continue to increase our depth in all the areas. Not only in just field events, but distance, sprints and everything. It’s something that we have to do. It’s going to be an ongoing course. But you got to keep on improving in those areas so that when folks like Brandon Miles or Shane Smith go down, we can have other people that can help out and step up to the plate.”

In the 400 meter dash, Carlinton Morgan was one of the favorites to finish high in the event. But he fell behind early in his preliminary run, came back late only to fall short of qualifying for the finals. This disappointed Hicks and the look on Morgan’s face minutes after the race was one of sadness. Hicks said, “Carlinton was runner up last year in the 400. He was one of the favorites to score high in the 400 meters. So that was very disappointing. But some of the guys were able to bounce back and make up some of the points.”

The Eagles apparently got a good talking to back at their hotel the second night which may have been just the switch that middle distance runner Dale Dunn needed. Dunn stated, “Coach Hicks said we’re going to be evaluated today. He also said the character of a man is tested by not how hard he is hit (it’s how he responds to it). It’s how we fight back when we’re kicked down. He said that to me and I used that in my race. He said that we’re down, but we have two events and the relays. Let’s get some points out of it.”

Teo Bennett advanced to the 400 meter finals and placed sixth in the event. The 800 meter run was one o the better showdown in recent memory as the Eagles’ Kayon Smith and Dunn were ahead until the last 25 meters. However, from the outside came a blazing Dante Holmes of Delaware State who flew past both of them and clipped Smith at the line. Holmes edged Smith by .02 and clinched the NCAA regional berth with it. Hicks said, “That’s just not knowing where they were at the time of the finish. I think they got a little content about their place at the time. If they knew that another presence has come, I think they would’ve put a little extra edge on it. That’s racing. Good job to Dante Holmes from Delaware State and a heck of a job to my guys who finished second, third and fourth.”

Jieutonne Archer placed fourth in the event. Junior Julius Coleman placed fifth in the 1500 meter run.

In the relay races, the 400 meter team of Bennett, Andre Pinnock, Morgan and Kevon Jackson placed fifth.

In the 1600 meter relay, the Eagles overcame some problems in the middle. About 80 meters into his third leg, Jamie Wilson got clipped by a Delaware State runner and still managed to stay upright. That was the driving force to help Morgan, Bennett, himself and Archer place third in the event.

Coincidentally, the foursome ran the third fastest time in school history at 3:08.32. Hicks said about the race, “Wilson ran a heck of a leg. He got a little traffic and got a little banged up. Some time was knocked off and it might’ve been a deciding factor on how we ran our race. But he gave a good fight and never gave up. He kept fighting and helped us get that third place finish. That was a heck of a job.”

Dunn said abut the Eagles’ last day effort, “I’m very proud of our team for stepping up to the plate the last day. We had no points (on day 1 or two) and scored 36 points this day, that’s a major achievement. I should give kudos to our 4x4 team to make the third fastest run in team history and qualified for regionals, improved our time anyways.”

Hicks said, “It was a good final day pending that we didn’t earn any points the first couple days. To be able to score 35 points on the last day, that was pretty good.”

The Eagles realize that they will need to be deeper in order to compete for a MEAC Championship. However, Hicks noticed this for years and said about the differences between his team and Norfolk State, “Norfolk State has the economic resources to get what they need and we don’t. The bottom line, take nothing away from Norfolk State, they got some athletes there that we can’t afford and they can. That’s probably the biggest difference maker of all time for them being champions and us finishing in ninth place.”