Neville G. Hodge, Sr. the three-time Olympian and Hall of Famer is entering his 23rd season as the Head Cross Country and Track and Field coach of the Morgan State University men’s and women’s track and field programs. Coach Hodge, no stranger to Morgan State University and its track and field history, is a 1980 graduate of Morgan State University and is an eight-time NCAA All-American and one of the most accomplished sprinters in the history of Morgan State track and field.
The St. Thomas, Virgin Islands native, set school records in the 100 meter dash (10.10) and the 200 meter dash (20.43), both of which still stand today. In 1977 he captured the MEAC 100m and 200m titles, and in 1979, he ran 20.60 on a cinder track at Howard University, which still stands as the fastest time ever on that track. But Hodge wasn’t done there, as he was crowned the 1979 NCAA Division II Outdoor Champion in the 200 meter dash and a runner-up finisher in the 400 meter dash during the NCAA Indoor Championships. He also recorded a 6.67sec for the 60 meters dash in New York in February 1992 at the USATF Indoor Track & Field Championship.
The three-time Olympian as an athlete (1984, 88, 92) for the Virgin Islands, also coached at two Olympic Games as the Virgin Islands National Team Coach in the ‘92 Olympic Games in Barcelona, as well as the ‘96 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Hodge was inducted into the Morgan State University Hall of Fame in October 2002, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Hall of Fame in 2007 and The African American Ethnic/Caribbean Sports Hall of Fame in September 2003. He started his collegiate track career in 1976 at Morgan State as part of a dominating program already rich in tradition and by the time he left, he had made a significant impact and was recognized as one of the premiere sprinters in the country.
Hodge began his coaching career while he was a student at Morgan State, working with the sprinters at nearby Catonsville Community College. His first head coaching opportunity came in 1986 when he took over the program at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, where he guided them to their first ever Women Outdoor MEAC Championship Title and several teams Runner ups. While at Maryland Eastern Shore he developed two 1992 Olympian, and was awarded the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the year that same year.
After a successful seven-year stint in Princess Anne, Md., Hodge was offered the head coaching position at his Alma Mater, Morgan State University in 1994. Hodge wasted no time making an immediate impact, as he won three MEAC Coach of The Year honors. He also received that same award in 1992, 1994 and 2005. In 1994 he made history when he led Morgan’s State University’s men’s program to their first-ever indoor crown. Three months later his team missed winning the outdoor title by half-a-point. In 2005 it was the Lady Bears who captured the league’s outdoor championship.
During his tenure, Hodge has developed:
- 17 Olympians
- 27 NCAA qualifiers
- 10 NCAA All-Americans
- 3 NCAA All-Academics recipients
- 15 MEAC record holders
- 6 Mid Eastern Athletic Conference most valuable athletes
- 59 Individual’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champions
- 54 Men’s NCAA Regional qualifiers
- 78 Women’s NCAA Regional qualifier.
- 115 ECAC qualifiers Indoor and Outdoor
- 12 ECAC Individual Champions Indoor and Outdoor
- 74 IC4A Indoor and Outdoor Individual qualifiers
- 24 IC4A Indoor and Outdoor Individual Champions
Hodge graduated from Morgan State with a BS in Physical Education and later earned a Master’s degree in Education in 1997. He and his wife Sharon have two children, Ashlynn and London Hodge and he has one son, Neville Jr. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma (PBS) Fraternity Inc.
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