ATHENS, W.Va. – As the final days of 2025 come off the calendar, the Concord University Sports Information Department will look back on the best moments from the past 365 days that includes All-American recognitions, plenty of growth and change in and around the Carter Center and unforgettable games and plays.
From December 22-31, the year-end countdown will highlight one moment each in the Best of 2025.
With
Jonathan Kigel assuming the head coaching role of the cross country and track & field programs at Concord, the storied career of former Concord cross country and track & field head coach
Mike Cox is spotlighted in moment number nine in the Best of 2025.
Cox stepped away from coaching in May after a legendary 25-year tenure in charge of the running sports at CU, but remains as the school's director of athletic compliance.
In his quarter century at CU, Cox coached Concord's only individual national champion in Shawnee Carnett who won an outdoor national title in the 800-meter run in 2011 while also standing atop the national podium in the 800-meters in 2014. Overall, Cox coached five All-Americans on the track (Carnett – 800-meters, RJ Anderson – 60-meter dash, John Paul Blankenship – shot put, Issac Prather and Jason Weitzel – 3,000-meter steeplechase). In 2021, Prather became Concord's first All-American in men's or women's cross country.
"It has been my honor and privilege to be part of this great institution for the last 25 years," Cox said at the time of his coaching announcement. "The growth that the cross country and track & field programs have undergone in that time has been truly special to step back and watch. What I'm most proud of is not only the accomplishments the athletes have had at Concord, but the maturation of the athletes in competition and watching them succeed after receiving their diploma. Â
Cox had the privilege of coaching three men's cross country teams that qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championship Meet. The first instance came in 2016 after one of Cox's five conference championships. The Mountain Lions returned to the national stage in back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022. Cox won a total of seven conference championships in cross country—five men and two women.
On the track and in the field, a total of 57 current and former Concord athletes have been conference champions in either individual events and relays between the indoor and outdoor seasons under Cox's guidance. Four athletes have been named conference athlete of the year: Blankenship (2004 and 2006), Carnett (2011), Prather (2023) and Weitzel (2018). And in 2017, Jonathan Gore earned MEC High Point/MVP, the second in program history. Cornell Core was the CU's first conference MVP, taking the honor in 2009.
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