by Maya Dawson, sports editor

Nov. 1 — This past weekend the Spartans were at the MEAC Cross Country Championships at the Delaware State Outreach and Research Center in Smyrna, Delaware where they broke some records and set some new goals for the program.

Both the men and women’s cross country team routed the competition. The women team finished with a score of 47 with Maryland-Eastern Shore coming in second with a score of 75. Senior Martha Bissah led the charge for the Spartans. It was a total sweep for the title.She won first place with a time of (17:44.4) in the 5,000-meter to clinch the first place spot becoming the first women ever to win 3 consecutive individual MEAC cross country titles. She was earned All-MEAC honors for that week because of her accomplishments.

The Spartans also had 3 other Spartans who finished in the top 15 along with her: Sophomore Fridah Koech finished fourth place with a time of (18:34.4), Senior Caroline Samoei finished ninth with a time of (19:11.6), and lastly Kara Grant finished in thirteenth place with a time of (19:37.8).

The men won in a sweep as well. They had 25 points and the next place had 40, which was North Carolina A&T. The men had three Spartans place in the top 3 spots in the 8,000-meter.

Sophomore Meshack Kipchirchir finished in first place with a time of (25:3.5), Freshman Evans Cheruiyot finished in second with a time of (25:9.9), and in third place was Lelei Too who finished with a time of (25:24.5). Anteneh Girma also finished close behind them in fifth place with a time of (25:48.5).

Meshack Kipchirchir and Martha Bissah both were selected as the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Cross Country Athletes of the Week, which is the first time runners from NSU have been named National Athletes by the organization.Head Coach Kenneth Giles was named MEAC’s Most Outstanding Coach on both the men’s and the women’s side. This is the men’s men’s thirteenth title and this is also their first title since 2017. This is the women’s first title since 2009 and their second title overall.The Spartans next meet will be at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Earlysville, Virginia on November 15.