MEAC member Maryland-Eastern Shore will not compete in the 2020-21 athletic season.
The school made the official announcement on November 19th, citing that the “risk to the health and safety of athletes and staff proves too great.”
“As we approached the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference deadline for a decision on our participation in the 20-21 athletic year, it became clear that the responsible position would be to forego this athletic season. The health and safety of our student athletes, our coaches and our staff will always be our top priority,” UMES president Dr. Heidi M Anderson said in a school statement.
UMES had previously cancelled all competition through at least January 1st, and now becomes the second MEAC school to opt-out of the entire athletic year; Bethune-Cookman recently made a similar decision.
“The university moves forward with the mindset that we will use this time to better position and strengthen our programs to be able to better complete the 2021-22 athletic year,” said athletic director Keith Davidson.
The Hawks’ softball program hired Karla Powell as head coach prior to the 2019 season. The squad doubled their previous year’s win total that season, and owned a 3-18 overall record at the end of the abbreviated 2020 campaign.
