CARY, N.C. – Led by the duo of
Lucky Maila and
Humed Nura, the Coppin State men's cross country team finished fifth of eight schools at the 2026 MEAC Championships on Friday morning at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Eagles totaled 128 total points with their top five runners completing the 8K (5-mile course) in an average time of 26:42.
Placing fifth in the team standings was Coppin's best performance at the MEAC Cross Championships since 2015 when they finished fourth of 12 schools.
Maila crossed the finish in 16
th place at 25:37.8, shattering his season-best time by well over a minute. Nura followed closely after in 25:44.6 to place 18
th, good for another season-best time.
Asa Francis took 29
th overall in a huge personal record time of 26:46.2, shaving nearly a minute off his time from the same course last year. Rounding out the top five for the Eagles were
Etiam Torgbenu is 27:41.4 and freshman
Aaiden Clark in 27:425 with the pair kicking hard down the final half of the course to secure fifth place for the Navy & Gold. Both marks were also personal records,
Elijah Hicks broke the 30-minute plateau for the first time in his collegiate career but also shattered the 29-minute mark as well with a time of 28:19.8 to finish 36
th. Freshman
Elijah Collins nearly broke his PR by over two full minutes with a time of 29:33.5 while
Rayshawn Harris finished in 31:54.1.
With the conclusion of the cross country season, the Eagles open the indoor season at the Youree Spence-Garcia Invitational, hosted by St. John's University on December 5 at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y.
