University of Charleston Women's Cross Country

Nick Bias enters his 12th year as the Head Cross Country and Track & Field coach after being hired in January of 2014. He has developed the Golden Eagles into a perennial power house program both in the Mountain East Conference and nationally. Bias' eleventh year saw the program keep achieving excellence as they won four more MEC team championships-Men & Women Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Men's Cross Country qualified for their sixth consecutive NCAA championship and finishing 28th at Nationals. Beth Sykes qualified individually and placed 84th overall. Sam Idiens earned his second All-American honor by placing 3rd in the 800m NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Timber Huysmans also earned All-American honors by placing 10th in the 200 meters race. Abby McKinney qualified in the women's weight throw for nationals and placed 17th overall. Sam Idiens and Beth Sykes both earned MEC Indoor Track Athletes of the Year awards while Laura Delgado de Torres won the MEC Field Athlete of the Year honors.  Outdoor season brought more success at Brooke Burns earned MEC Field Athlete of the Year for outdoor track while Beth Sykes repeated as MEC Track Athlete of the Year.  Brooke Burns qualified for nationals in the hammer throw where she placed 17th overall and broke school records in the discus and hammer throw. Iggy Chalker earned All-American honors in the 10,000m race at Nationals when he raced to a 15th place finish.  Bias' tenth year at the helm saw his programs win 8 team championships, The Triple Crown(6 MEC Championships) and produce 3 All-Americans. They won MEC championships in Men and Women's Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track Field. They also won Atlantic Region championships in cross country for both the men and women's programs. The men's cross country team finished 15th at NCAA's and the women's team finished 29th overall. George Couttie earned 1st team All-American Honors for the Mile in Indoor Track & Field. The Distance Medley Relay Team consisting of Idiens, Hunkele, Thiel, and Couttie also earned All-American honors. In outdoor season-Sam Idiens raced to a 3rd place finish in the 800m run to earn All-American honors. Kellen Tropeck also earned All-American honors in the Shot Put by earning 10th place. Idiens also earned Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year honors for Outdoor Track & Field.  Bias' ninth year as Head Coach saw great success for the 2022 Men and Women’s Cross Country Teams. The men went on to secure both MEC Conference and NCAA Regional Championship titles, while also receiving six MEC First-Team honors and seven All-Region First-Team honors. At the NCAA Championships, the Men’s Cross Country Team finished in a program best 8th place with senior Joao Pereira (21st) and sophomore Thomas Termote (33rd) earning All-American honors. The Women’s Cross Country Team also performed excellent in the 2022 season, as they were crowned MEC Conference Champions with a record score of 18 points. The women went on to win the NCAA Atlantic Region, qualifying them for the NCAA Championships where they finished in a program best 15th place. Elise Leveel earned All-American honors by her impressive (18th) individual finish. In total, they had six student-athletes receive both MEC First-Team honors and All-Region honors. Impressively, Altogether, the Men and Women’s Cross Country Teams had twelve NCAA Academic All-Americans. Like the Cross Country teams, the Men and Women’s Track and Field Teams had another successful season under Coach Bias. In total, the men and women secured three 2023 MEC Conference Championship titles along with several Individual Championship titles. In sum, Coach Bias had three student-athletes receive MEC Top Honors. For Men’s Track and Field, Matthys Bourse was named the Indoor MEC Freshman of the year and Mathias Mees was named the Outdoor MEC Freshman of the Year. Mees also earned Most Valuable Performer for the Outdoor championships by scoring the most points of any individual-29 points. Kellen Tropeck was named MEC Field Athlete of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor championships. Charleston Women’s Track and Field newcomer, Julie LaFare secured the Women’s MEC Freshman of the Year title in both Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field. Louanne Pouzancre was named the Women’s MEC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. The Men & Women’s Track & Field Teams also had twelve NCAA Academic All-Americans. The Van, West Virginia native received his Bachelor’s degree from Concord University in 2006. While at Concord, he was a scoring member of the 2004 WVIAC Cross Country Championship team as well as being a conference standout in the 10k. In 2006, the WVIAC recognized Nick Bias as the Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year. After turning his tassel, Bias received his Master’s degree in Education from Marshall University in 2011. Bias is active in the running community, completing 21 marathons (Boston six times) and winning numerous local races including 12 top 10 finishes at the Charleston Distance Run 15 Miler. In the fall of 2017, Bias won the Marshall half-marathon. Bias’ personal best time in the marathon is 2:42.17, and his personal best time in the half marathon is 1:16.40. He also coached former Charleston All-American Jack Mastandrea who recently qualified for the US Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials in 2024. Jack ran a 2:15 qualifying time. Currently, Bias resides in Charleston where he lives with his wife Brooke, sons Tanner and Cameron, and dog Oscar. Total Championships-36 Men-22(10-XC, 12-Track & Field) Women-14(6-XC, 8-Track & Field)   Mountain East Conference XC Championships-10 Men-2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Women-2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Atlantic Region XC Championships-7 Men-2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 Women-2022, 2023 Mountain East Conference Track & Field Championships-19 Men-2018(Outdoor), 2019(Outdoor), 2020(Indoor), 2021(Outdoor), 2022(Indoor), 2022(Outdoor), 2023(Outdoor), 2024 (Indoor), 2024(Outdoor), 2025(Indoor), 2025(Outdoor) Women-2022(Indoor), 2022(Outdoor), 2023(Indoor), 2023 (Outdoor),  2024 (Indoor), 2024 (Outdoor), 2025 (Indoor), 2025 (Outdoor)  NCAA Cross Country Championship Appearances/Finishes Men 2018-22nd 2019-18th 2021-14th 2022- 8th 2023- 15th 2024-28th  Women 2021- 29th 2022- 15th 2023- 29th Coach of the Year Honors-33 Atlantic Region Cross Country Men-2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 Women-2022, 2023 Mountain East Conference Cross Country Men-2018, 2019 ,2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Women-2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Mountain East Conference Track & Field Men-2018(Outdoor), 2019(Outdoor), 2020(Indoor), 2021(Outdoor), 2022(Indoor), 2022(Outdoor), 2023(Outdoor), 2024(Indoor), 2024(Outdoor), 2025 (Indoor), 2025 (Outdoor) Women-2022(Indoor), 2022(Outdoor), 2023(Indoor), 2023 (Outdoor), 2024 (Indoor), 2025 (Outdoor)  All-Americans-15 Jack Mastandrea-Cross Country-2018, Track & Field-Outdoor-(10,000m)-2019, 2021 Track & Field-Indoor-(5,000m)-2020 Aaron Banks-Track & Field-Indoor-(60m)-2020 Joao Pereira-Cross Country-2021, 2022 Thomas Termote-Cross Country-2022 Elise Leveel-Cross Country-2022 George Couttie-Track & Field-Mile (Indoor, 8th Place), 2024 Distance Medley Relay-2024-Sam Idiens, George Couttie, Warren Thiel, Colin Hunkele (10th Place) Kellen Tropeck- Track & Field-Shot Put (Outdoor, 10th Place)-2024 Sam Idiens-Track & Field-800m (Outdoor, 3rd)-2024, 800m (Indoor-3rd)-2025 Timber Huysmans-200m (Indoor, 10th)-2025 Iggy Chalker-Track & Field-10,000m (Outdoor, 15th Place)-2025 MEC Triple Crown Championships (Cross Country, Indoor Track & Field, Outdoor Track & Field) Men-(3)-2019-2020, 2021-2022, 2023-2024 Women-(3)-2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024 National Qualifiers 2024-Indoor-Timber Huysmans-200m (13th place) 2024-Outdoor-Warren Thiel-800m (15th place) 2024-Julie LaFare-10,000m 2025-Indoor-Abby McKinney-Weight Throw (17th place 2025-Brooke Burns-Hammer Throw (17th place) 1st Team All-Region Athletes-133 Cross Country-Men-25 Cross Country-Women-13 Track & Field-Men-57 Track & Field-Women-40 Men-82-Combined Women-51-Combined 1st Team All-MEC Cross Country Athletes-69 Men-44 Keith Charette-2014 Kevin Charette-2015, 2016 Jake Casto-2015, 2017 Max Allen-2016 David Cecchi-2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 Hunter Riffle-2017, 2018 Jack Mastandrea-2018, 2019 Job Ijstma-2018 Liam Mumford-2018 Sergio Garrido-2018 Kyle Hinson-2019, 2020, 2021 Connor Kaufman-2019, 2020 Alex Kitony-2019 Steve Korir-2019 Matthew Forrester-2020, 2021 Casey Ellis-2021 Thomas Termote-2021, 2022 Noah Revels-2021 Joao Pereira-2022 Alex Abellaneda-2022 Iggy Chalker-2022, 2023, 2024 Emmanuel Yego-2022 Matthys Bourse-2022, 2023 George Couttie- 2023 Corey Schobelock- 2023, 2024 Sam Idiens- 2023, 2024   Women-25 Kelly Whittaker-2017 Kasey McNamara-2018, 2019, 2020 Olivia Underwood-2018 Denise Ruiz-2018 Lily Dowdell-2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Mercy Jepleting-2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Lena Kaster-2020 Elise Leveel-2021, 2022 Madison Woolwine-2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Julie LaFare- 2022, 2023 Flora Tissier-2022 Beth Sykes-2024 Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year-6 Jack Mastandrea-Cross Country-2019 Elise Leveel-Cross Country-2021 Nathan Stout-Track & Field-Outdoor-2021(Field Athlete of the Year) George Couttie-Cross Country-2023 Sam Idiens-Track & Field-2024-Outdoor-(Track Athlete of the Year) Laura Delgado de Torres-Track & Field-Indoor-2025-(Field Athlete of the Year) MEC Most Valuable Performer(Most Points Scored)-Track & Field-7 Kelly Whittaker-2018 (Outdoor) Nathan Stout-2021 (Outdoor)  Thomas Termote-2023 (Indoor) Mathias Mees-2023 (Outdoor) Bram DeRaedt-2024 (Indoor) Kellen Tropeck-2024 (Outdoor) Laura Delgado de Torres-2025 (Indoor) MEC Athlete of the Year-19 Zack Marcum-Track-2017 (Outdoor) Jack Mastandrea-Cross Country-2019, Track -2019 (Outdoor), Track-2021(Outdoor) Nathan Stout-Field-2021 (Outdoor) Kellen Tropeck-Field-2023 (Indoor & Outdoor), Kellen Tropeck-2024 (Indoor & Outdoor) Elise Leveel-Cross Country-2022 Louanne Pouzancre-Track-2023 (Outdoor) George Couttie-Cross Country-2023 Julie LaFare-Cross Country-2023 Julie LaFare-Track-2024 (Outdoor) Beth Sykes-Track-2024 (Indoor), 2025 (Indoor), 2025 (Outdoor) Laura Delgado de Torres-Field-2025 (Indoor) Brooke Burns-Field-2025 (Outdoor) MEC Freshman of the Year-Cross Country/Track & Field-22 Men's Cross Country-4 Max Allen-2016 David Cecchi-2017 Matthew Forrester-2020 George Couttie- 2023 Women's Cross Country-4 Kasey McNamara-2018 Mercy Jepleting-2020 Elise Leveel-2021 Julie LaFare-2022 Men's Track & Field-9 Liam Mumford-2015 Hunter Riffle-2018 Chris Barbera-2020(Indoor) Thomas Termote-2022(Indoor) Noah Revels-2022(Outdoor) Matthys Bourse-2023(Indoor) Mathias Mees-2023 Sam Idiens-2024 (Indoor), 2024 (Outdoor) Women's Track & Field-5 Mercy Jepleting-2021 Elise Leveel-2022(Indoor & Outdoor) Julie LaFare-2023(Indoor & Outdoor) 1st Team All-MEC (Individual Conference Champion)-Track & Field-153 Men-97 Women-56 2015-Outdoor Men Liam Mumford-800m & 1500m 2016–Outdoor Men Liam Mumford-800m & 1500m Jaylond Butler-100m 2017-Outdoor Men Liam Mumford-800m & 1500m, David Morales Perez- Triple Jump Zack Marcum-400m Aaron Elliott-Hammer 4x400m Relay- Marcum, Booker, Mumford, Fisher 2018-Outdoor Men Hunter Riffle-3k Steeplechase Michael Strachan-200m & 400m Jaylond Butler-100m 4x400m Relay- Strachan, Roy, Brooks, Burnham Outdoor- Women Kelly Whittaker-800m & 1500m 2019-Outdoor Men Nathan Stout- Shot Put & Hammer Aaron Banks-100m Jack Mastandrea- 5,000m & 10,000m Michael Strachan-400m Kevin Olivas-400H Liam Mumford-800m & 1500m Stephen Brown-Javelin 4x400m Relay- Strachan, Marcum, Olivas, Brooks 2020 – Indoor Men Aaron Banks - 60m & 200m Michael Strachan - 400m Josh Saunders - Long Jump Nathan Stout - Shot Put (Distance Medley Relay)-Kaufman, Booker, Brooks, Barbera (4x400m Relay)- Mullenax, Booker, Strachan, Brooks Outdoor-Women Tricht Jocelyn- 60m Gunnhildur Ingvadottir- Triple Jump 2021- Outdoor-Men Jack Mastandrea-5,000m & 10,000m Nathan Stout- Hammer, Discus Warren Thiel- 800m, 4x400m Kevin Olivas- Triple Jump Dezmon Bradshaw- 110m (4x400m Relay)- Mullenax, Hunkele, Thiel, Brooks Outdoor-Women Eve Hine- 400m Lily Dowdell-1500m Mercy Jepleting- 5,000m Miriam Dreher-Triple Jump 2022 – Indoor-Men Thomas Termote -5,000m Warren Thiel -800m Matthew Forrester-Mile Kellen Tropeck Shot Put (Distance Medley Relay)- Thiel, Burston, Revels, Forrester Indoor-Women Elise Leveel-3,000m & 5,000m Louanne Pouzancre-200m Eve Hine-400m Miriam Dreher-Triple Jump & Long Jump (Distance Medley Relay)-Tissier, Hoya, Woolwine, Dowdell (4x400m Relay-)Hine, Pouzancre, Okoye, Barahona Outdoor-Men Matthew Forrester-1500m Matt Fairbain-Triple Jump Kellen Tropeck-Shot Put & Discus (4x400m Relay)-Hunkele, Burston, Garrett, Mullenax Outdoor-Women Eve Hine-400m Elise Leveel-5,000m & 10,000m Flora Tissier-1500m Miriam Dreher-Triple Jump & Long Jump Marina Barahona-400mH Lia Markert-3k Steeplechase (4x100m Relay)-Hine, Dreher, Pouzancre, Grant (4x400m Relay)-Hine, Pouzancre, Barahona, Grant 2023-Indoor-Men Thomas Termote-Mile Warren Thiel-800m Kellen Tropeck-Shot Put & Discus Mathias Mees-Heptathlon, Long Jump (4x400m Relay)-Salgado, Thiel, Garrett, Hunkele Indoor-Women Julie LaFare-3,000m Flora Tissier-5,000m & Mile Miriam Dreher-Long Jump Louanne Pouzancre-400m (Distance Medley Relay)-Lily Dowdell, Patricia Alonso-Munoz, Maelle Fuchs, Mercy Jepleting Outdoor-Men Warren Thiel-800m Iggy Chalker-5,000m Joao Pereira-10,000m Timber Huysmans-200m Mathias Mees-Long Jump & Triple Jump Kellen Tropeck-Shot Put & Discus (4x400m Relay)-Alex Salgado, Michael Garrett, Timber Huysmans, Colin Hunkele Outdoor-Women Louanne Pouzancre-400m Flora Tissier-1500m Julie LaFare-5,000m & 10,000m (4x400m Relay)-Balie Destefano, Camilia Hoya, Marina Barahona, Louanne Pouzancre 2024-Indoor Men Shot Put and Weight Throw-Kellen Tropeck (Distance Medley Relay)-Aflalo, Smith, Thiel, Idiens 800m-Warren Thiel 400m and 200m-Bram DeRaedt (4x400m Relay)-DeRaedt, Hunkele, Garrett, Salgado Women 5,000m-Julie LaFare Mile-Beth Sykes Weight Throw-Abby McKinney (Distance Medley Relay)-Jepleting, McLaughlin, Corroy, Sykes 2024-Outdoor Men 5,000m and 10,000m-Iggy Chalker 800m-Sam Idiens 1500m-George Couttie Shot Put, Hammer and Discus-Kellen Tropeck Javelin-Manuel Campana (4x400m Relay)-Smith, Garrett, Thiel, Hunkele (4x100m Relay)-Agrizzi, Parsons, Alston, Huysmans Women 5,000m and 10,000m-Julie LaFare 1500m-Beth Sykes Hammer Throw-Abby McKinney 2025 -Indoor-Men 60m H-Massimo Pantano 200m-Timber Husymans 800m-Sam Idiens Mile-Sam Idiens 3,000m-Caleb Gilbert 5,000m-Cosmas Chelanga Weight Throw-Frankie Winter (Distance Medley Relay)-Gilbert, McElrea, O'Shea, Idiens Women 400m-Maya Clark 800m-Beth Sykes Mile-Beth Sykes Weight Throw-Abby McKinney 2025-Outdoor-Men 200m-Timber Huysmans 1500m-Jules Geffroy-Remot 5,000m-Cosmas Chelanga 10,000m-Iggy Chalker Hammer Throw-Luke Messinger (4x100m)-Parsons, Gutzeit, Agrizzi, Huysmans Women 400m-Maya Clark 800m-Beth Sykes 1500m-Beth Sykes Triple Jump-Stefani Vasileva Hammer Throw-Brooke Burns Discus-Brooke Burns Javelin-Kalista Milne   Prior Coaching Experience Head Coach Scott High School Track & Field- 2007-2013 85 individuals qualified for WV State Track Meet Four State Champions 2012 Region 4 Champions/2013 Cardinal Conference Champions Head Coach George Washington High School Cross Country- 2012-2013 2013 West Virginia AAA Cross Country Champion, Matthew Brafford (Oklahoma '18) Cross Country State Qualifying teams 2012 & 2013  

Blankenship enters his sixth season as Head Coach for Cross Country and ninth season for the Track & Field teams. As a student-athlete he earned three discus titles, two shot put titles, and one hammer title while at Concord University. Blankenship is a three-time All-American in shot put, while also garnering Academic All-American honors. Blankenship also was an All-Conference football player and played a year of Professional Football. To date, Blankenship has coached 10 NCAA National Qualifiers, 83 All Conference Athletes, 31 Conference Champions, eight Academic All-Americans, eight All-Academic teams, four First Team All Region Athletes, and a WVIAC Cross Country Team Championship.