Neville G. Hodge enters his 25th season as the head men’s and women’s cross country and track and field coach at Morgan State University.
No stranger to Morgan State and its track and field history, Coach Hodge is a 1980 graduate of Morgan State. Hodge is an eight-time NCAA All-American and is one of the most accomplished sprinters in the history of Morgan State track and field.
Hodge started his collegiate track career in 1976 as part of a dominating program already rich in tradition. By the time he left Morgan State, he had made a significant impact and was recognized as one of the premiere sprinters in the country.
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 later in 1979, he ran a time of 20.60 on a cinder track at Howard University, which still stands as the fastest time ever on that track. However, Hodge wasn’t done there, as he was crowned the 1979 NCAA Division II Outdoor Champion in the 200m dash and was a runner-up finish in the 400m during the NCAA Indoor Championships.
A three-time Olympian as an athlete (1984, 88, 92) for the Virgin Islands, Hodge also coached in two Olympics as the Virgin Islands National Team Coach at both the ‘92 Barcelona and ‘96 Atlanta Games.
Coach Hodge began his coaching career while as 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 were he guide them to their first-ever Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship (MEAC) women’s outdoor championship and several team runner-up finishes. While at Maryland Eastern Shore he developed two 1992 Olympians, and garnered both Coach of the Year honors at Maryland Eastern Shore and MEAC Coach of the Year accolades in 1992.
After a successful seven-year stint in Princess Anne, Md., Hodge was offered the head coaching position at his alma mater in 1994. Hodge wasted no time making an immediate impact, when he made history guiding the men’s program to their first-ever indoor crown in 1994. Three months later his team missed out on winning the outdoor title by half a point. In 2005 it was the Lady Bears would experience success, capturing the league’s outdoor championship.
Hodge, who has won three MEAC championships and three MEAC Coach of the Year awards (1992, 94, 05), would guide Morgan State to its latest historical feat in 2016, when the men’s team captured their first-ever IC4A Outdoor Track & Field title. With the win, Morgan State would become the first-ever MEAC school to win the title.
Hodge was inducted into the Morgan State University Hall of Fame in 2002 and the African American Ethnic/Caribbean Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2007, Hodge would be inducted into the MEAC Hall of Fame.
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 daughters, Ashlynn and London, and he has one son, Neville Jr.
