ORANGEBURG, SC – South Carolina State will be among eight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference schools vying for the league's 2024 Indoor Track and Field Championships to be conducted Feb. 18-20 at the Virginia Beach Sports Complex, Virginia Beach, VA.
 
The competition gets underway Sunday at 2 p.m., with Monday's and Tuesday's events beginning at 9 a.m., and 9:30 a.m., respectively.
 
SC State second-year head coach Donald Cooper, a Bulldog Hall of Famer, has set some ambitious goals for his teams, which have endured a long drought in bringing a track and field title to Orangeburg. The SC State men last won a title in 2002, while the women have never won an indoor championship.
 
"From an athletic and mental aspect, things look positive," said Cooper. "Our goal is to score 80 points for the men and 60 points for the women."

SC State teams have qualified a combined 35 participants for the competition, including several competitors who compete in multiple events, according to Cooper.

"Depending on how well we perform, we could finish in the top four or the bottom four," Cooper pointed out. "We are asking many of our athletes to do things that they have not done before. These are our developmental athletes, and they are making the effort.

"Some of them could be game changers in the future as we seek to create some excitement and bring back championships to our track program. If our kids continue to improve and set personal records, I think we will be in good shape. We do not have a Jada Banks (who set three school records before graduating last season) to carry us, but our freshmen and newcomers are making an impact."

Host Norfolk State has won the last two men's titles, while Howard is the two-time defending champion in the women's division.