By Steve Keenan
Sports Editor
July 29, 2008 03:57 pm
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Settling in to his new southern West Virginia surroundings, Bruce Cox likes the potential he sees.
Cox, 55, was tapped last week to helm the new men’s and women’s track and field and cross country programs at Mountain State University. A former distance running standout at West Liberty, Cox arrives in Beckley after a year spent trying to resurrect the long-dormant cross country program at WVU Tech. Prior to that, he coached for several years at the University of Charleston, and he also worked in the insurance industry.
MSU, which competes in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (with the exception of the men’s basketball squad), has been approved to compete for NAIA championships in both sports this school year, Cox said. However, he cautions, titles won’t be the initial focus.
“We’ll basically have a bunch of walk-ons (in the first season),” he said. “(Looking at what he thinks the team will have) the women’s team can be decent. The men will probably struggle to find five (the minimum number of runners required to post a team score). We just need to build up.”
Cox will meet with his harriers for an organizational practice on Monday, Aug. 18, but they probably won’t compete until late September at Rio Grande. The KIAC championship cross country event will be contested later in the fall at Berea, Ky.
Cox says the Cougars likely won’t host meets in the first couple of seasons — instead choosing to travel to established events — and the school is still finalizing details about where it will stage track practice.
Success can eventually be forged with the legs and lungs of local runners, the new coach feels. “All my teams were predominantly West Virginia kids. Look what Sean Clary (WVU women’s cross country and track coach) is doing; WVU was ninth in the nation with six West Virginia kids on the team.”
In addition to his previous coaching experience at UC and Tech, Cox brings a level of individual running success to the table. At WLSC in the mid-1970s, he turned in the following personal best track times: 800 meters (1 minute, 53.1 seconds); 1500 (3:54.0); mile (4:14.1); and 5000 (14:38.3), as well as being a three-time all-West Virginia Conference cross country competitor. He says you can expect to see him out on the roads training with his new charges.
The addition of track and cross country for both genders brings the number of intercollegiate sports offered at MSU to nine (four for men and five for women).
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Cox felt Tech, relying on last-minute recruits, made some strides after he was hired last July to lead the Golden Bears. The school’s women’s team even managed to beat a foe in the Mid-South Conference championship meet. But, he said he was in for some enlightening moments as the year progressed.
“We knew that there were going to be headaches down there; we just didn’t know there would be one nightmare after another,” said Cox, who resides in Belle.
“Forget about me; I didn’t think cross country as a program was treated fairly,” he added concerning his Montgomery tenure.
While landing a high-profile hire in Scott Tinsley to head the school’s football program, Tech has also seen several other recent athletic defections, both coaching and non-coaching. Women’s basketball coach Reggie Carrick departed in the spring (and was replaced by veteran local coach Jim Fout), and baseball coach Tim Epling and assistant sports information director Toni Kay Oliverio both resigned last week. The golf position, formerly held by Jim Kerrigan, is also vacant.
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