Howards’ Cross Country Team Finishes Second at the MEAC Championship

Howard University Men and Women’s cross country teams completed their 2021 season, taking second place at the ​​Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship hosted by North Carolina Central University.

TheMen’s cross country team finished as runners up in the 8k course, with a score of 54 points. This was their best finish since 2013. Howard rounded out the top five, with seniors Gavin Williams (Dover, Del.) (26:20.4), and Ayoade Adebiyi (Virginia Beach, Va.) (26:23.0) finishing fourth and fifth place. Freshmen Tafari Stephenson (Bowie, Md.) and Julian Lawson (Sewell, N.J.) made the top 15, finishing 11^th (26:59.10) and 14^th (27:16.10). Freshman Marsellis Davis (Columbus, OH) finished 20^th, clocking in at (27:54.9). As a result of their production, Williams, Adebiyi, Stephenson and Lawson were named to the All-MEAC team. 

The Women’s cross country team also finished as runners up in their 5k race. Their score of 55 points was their best finish since 2005. Freshmen Joslyn Crosby (Bossier City, La.) and Camille Egbula (Simpsonville, S.C.) placed third (19:25.00) and fourth (19:30.40) respectively, making their way into the top 5. Junior Breanna McDonald (Bethesda, Md.) and sophomore Dasia Wilson (Philadelphia,PA) claimed their spots in the top 15, clocking in at 11^th (20:07.80) and 14^th (20:20.70) place. Crosby, Egbula, McDonald and Wilson earned All-Meac after their performance. Freshman Sherisse Peterson (Philadelphia, PA) finished 23^rd (21:06.9), sophomore Alyssa Mark (Orlando, FL) finished 24^th (21:10.3), freshman Nicole Nash (Rockaway, N.J.) finished 32^nd and freshman Camryn Curtis (Douglasville, Ga) finished 47^th.

The Norfolk State Spartans won the 2021 MEAC Cross Country Championship for the Men’s and Women’s. The spartan men swept the top three places in the men’s race to help defend their 2019 title. As a result, Spartans’ cross country runner Evans Cheruiyot won the men’s individual title, and was named Outstanding Performer after running a season-best 25:11.0 over the 8K course. The Spartans placed four runners in the top eight to win the 2021 women’s cross country championship.

According to the Bison Athletic, Howard assistant coach Andrew Murphy said, “As a staff, we are extremely proud of the progress made this season, we saw several personal best marks that led to eight student-athletes overall recognized as All-MEAC performers.”  

The cross country season has come to an end, and Howard now focuses its attention to the upcoming indoor season.

Copy edited by Jasper Smith