VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – The South Carolina State men are fourth and the women fifth after Day One of the three-day Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Indoor Championship at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.

With only two events completed, the Bulldogs have amassed seven points on the strength of a fourth-place finish (7.24m, 23-9 ft.) by Erick Hill in the long jump and a seventh-place finish (17:03.07) by Andrew Latimer in the men's 5000. The women got a fourth-place showing (19:29.97) by Jada Banks in the 5000 meters for five points.

First-year SC State head coach Donald Cooper called Sunday's showing by his team a good start.
 
"It's a solid start to the indoor championships," Cooper said" The coaching staff is doing a great job keeping the athletes motivated and prepared.  Big day of preliminaries tomorrow.  We will continue to put everything we have into being as competitive as we can be. I love the energy and excitement our teams have."
 
Norfolk State leads the men's early competition with 31 points, followed by Howard with 18. The Howard women tallied 21 points to lead the women's race, followed by Morgan State with 19 in second.

Two Bulldogs – Kristopher Brown and Waddell Rembert-Jett advance to Tuesday's finals in the 200 meters. Brown was second in the prelims with a time of 21.52, while Rembert-Jett was sixth with a 21.67 clocking.