Michael Cox Biography
Athens High School / (Class of 1993)
Athens, WV
Classification: A Boys
Specialty: Distance
Virginia Tech / Blacksburg, VA
Michael
“Mikey” Cox (born October 10, 1975) attended Athens High School in Mercer
County, West Virginia from 1990-1993.
At Athens
High School, Cox was a nine-time state champion and earned All-America honors,
finishing 12th at the Kinney -- now Footlocker -- Championships in San Diego,
California.
Cox earned
West Virginia Track and Field Athlete of the Year honors in 1993 and won the
most points at the West Virginia High School State Championships two straight
years, winning the 800-meters, 1600-meters and 3200-meter races each time. He
still holds the West Virginia Class AA record in the mile, with a time of
4:17.54.
Also, he was
a starter on the Trojans basketball team and kicked for the football team.
Cox who was
one of the top 15 prep harriers in the nation in 1993 – chose Virginia Tech
over WVU, Marshall, Penn State, Connecticut, Navy, and his second choice, Duquesne.
[Early Years]
Cox got into
track and field in the eighth grade and took off from there. He just went out
one day and started running and liked it and stayed with it. Hodges didn’t take
much credit for Cox’s success.
High School (1990-1993):
While attending
Athens High School, Cox was coached by Paul Hodges in track and cross country.
[Freshman Year]
At the 1989 West
Virginia All-Boys Class State Cross Country Meet at Camp Virgil Tate (outside
of cross lanes), Gilmer County’s Sean Hunt took the individual crown. Hunt
covered the course in 17:10, trailed by Morgantown’s Chris Petsko at 17:36.
Athens’ Mikey Cox would debut as the top freshman runner by finishing in 19th
place.
At the 1990 Class AA-A West Virginia State Track Meet,
Athens’ Mikey Cox finished
in 6th place in the 3200m with a time of 10:15.5, while earning his first of
many All-State honors. He scored the only point for the Trojans as they
finished in a four-way tie as a team for 27th place.
[Sophomore Year]
At the 1990 West
Virginia All-Boys Class State Cross Country Meet at Elkins, Athens’ Mikey Cox
and Gilmer County’s Sean Hunt were talking at the starting line when all the
sudden the gun goes off. It was a quick draw start. It didn’t really matter
though as Hunt quickly rebounded to take the lead and win his second straight
boy’s title. Cox, the Mercer County individual champion, completed the course
in 19:01 to place 8th out of 116 runners. He was the lone Trojan harrier to
earn All-State honors.
At the 1991 Class AA-A West Virginia State Track Meet, Athens’ Mikey Cox would place 4th in
the 1600m (4:36.78) and 3rd in the 3200m (9:55.1). Cox accounted for all ten
points as he led the Trojans to an 18th place finish as a team.
[Junior Year]
At the 1991
West Virginia All-Boys Class State Cross Country Meet at Elkins, Athens’ Mikey
Cox didn’t take long to establish himself. The Athens harrier covered the
distance in 17:34, breaking his own course record of 18:01 that he set two
weeks before. He set the state meet record for the Elkins layout, which was
previously 18:08. Cox sped to the front at the race’s outset and never
relinquished his lead. Huntington’s Jeff Roby stayed several seconds behind for
two-and-half miles but faded from the pace, finishing runner-up for the second
straight year in 17:47.
At the 1992
Class AA-A West Virginia State Track Meet, Athens’ Mikey Cox was a triple
winner in the distance events, taking the 800m (2:02.17), 1600m (4:27.4), and
3200m (9:38.1). He also ran a leg on the Trojans 5th place 4x800 relay squad (8:39.2).
Cox led the Athens to a fifth-place finish as a team with 35 points and earned
high point honors with 30 ½.
[Senior Year]
At the 1992
West Virginia All-Boys Class State Cross Country Meet at Elkins, Mikey Cox of
Athens finished in 8th place in a time of 19:12. Cox, the 1991 state champion, made the all- state team
for the third straight time. He led the pack in the first half-mile, ahead of
eventual winner Andy McClintic of Greenbrier East. Cox had beaten McClintic by
44 seconds in the regional. After the race, Cox would have to wait until he
finished throwing up and hyperventilating to wonder what caused his body had
shut down. Cox arrived in Elkins at 2 a.m. that morning after playing in the
Athens-Peterstown football game.
During the
post cross country season, Cox finished 4th out of 187 runners at the Kinney South
Regional, which was on November 28th in Charlotte (NC), finishing the 3.1-mile
course in 15:29. Cox was only the second West Virginian to qualify for the
national race. Cox then went on to place 12th out of 32 competitors in the
Kinney National Cross Country Championship on December 12th in San Diego (CA).
Cox completed the 5,000-meter course in a time of 15:43.5. Cox’s 12th place
finish earned him Third Team All-America.
During the
spring track season, while running in the Class AA division 3,200-meter run at
the Gazette relays at Laidley Field, Cox shaved more than 20 seconds off his
own personal best and won the event in a blistering 9:11.13, a meet record.
That was less than two seconds off the fastest 3200m time run by a West
Virginia state high schooler, the 9:09.70 of St. Marys Steve Taylor back in
1983.
The 1993
Class AA-A West Virginia State Track Meet, was postponed until late June due to
a measles epidemic in the Eastern Panhandle; the mid-June heat produced
temperatures of over 100 degrees on the track. Athens’ Mikey Cox repeated his
800-1600-3200 triple, breaking the 1600m record of the legendary Steve Taylor
in 4:17.54. Cox would later run for Taylor at Virginia Tech. He won the 800m in
1:57.21, 1600m in 4:17.54 (Record), and 3200m in 9:28.3.
Cox was
hoping to break Steve Taylor’s 3200m record of 9:09.70. He was upset not
getting it.
“I guess I
just died on the last lap,” Cox said. “I’m definitely not happy with my time. I
was on pace until about the seventh lap. I just didn’t have anything left.”
Cox won the
Ray McCoy Award by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association as the state's
top male track and field athlete.
During Cox’s
high school running career (1990-1993), he scored a total of 71 ½ points at the
West Virginia State Track Meet at Laidley Field in Charleston, West Virginia.
Cox holds
the Athens’ High school records in the 800m (1:57.21), 1600m (4:17.54), and
3200m (9:11.13).
[College]
Cox attended
Virginia Tech University, where he qualified for the USA Junior National
cross-country team as a freshman and competed internationally in Budapest,
Hungary. At Virginia Tech, he was a member of seven conference championship
teams, and was a two-time Atlantic-10 Outdoor 10K Champion, an Indoor 5K
Champion while earning all-conference accolades three times.
[Professional]
As a
professional, Cox qualified for the Olympic marathon trials in 2004 and 2007. At
the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the Men's Marathon in Birmingham (AL),
Cox finished 26th out of 85 competitors with a time of 2:21.52. While at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the Men's
Marathon in New York (NY), Cox finished 41st out of 130 competitors with a time
of 2:20:12.
[Coaching]
Cox will
start his 18th season as the head coach of the both the men's and women's cross
country and track and field teams at Concord.
One of the
top coaches in the region, Cox is a seven-time West Virginia Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. Additionally, Cox has been awarded
Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year four times to bring his career total
to 11. In the fall of 2016, Cox earned his highest coaching honor to date as he
was voted by his peers as the United States Track and Field and Cross Country
Coaches' Association Atlantic Regional Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year
for guiding the team to an appearance at the NCAA Division II Championship Meet
after finishing fourth at the regional meet. It was the first time in school
and conference history that a team qualified for the national championship
meet.
Cox earned a
M.S., B.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg,
Virginia.
[Personal]
Michael Cox married
Tabitha Gandee on December 15, 2007. They have two boys Miller, 8, and West, 5.
They currently live in Princeton, West Virginia.
Accolades and Top-Performances:
Professional:
• 41st
Overall - 2007 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon
• 8th
Overall - 2007 Chicago Marathon
• 2005
Raleigh Relays 5Km Champion
• 27th Overall
- 2004 Olympic Trials Marathon
• 5th
Overall - 2002 Broad Street Run (10-miler)
• 9th
Overall - 2001 Philadelphia Distance Run (half-marathon)
Collegiate (Virginia Tech):
• 2-Time
All-Atlantic 10 All-Conference XC Team
• 1997 and
1998 Atlantic 10 10Km Champion (Outdoor Track)
• 1996
Atlantic 10 5Km Champion (Outdoor Track)
• 1995
Atlantic 10 5Km Champion (Indoor Track)
• Member of
U.S. National T&F Team (1994 World Junior XC Championships)
High School (Athens HS):
• 9-Time WV
State Champion
• High
School All-American (Cross-Country)
• WV State
Record - 1 Mile Run
• 1993 WV
Track Athlete of the Year
Personal Records:
800m -
1:54.34
1500m -
3:49.23
1 Mile -
4:04.33 (Indoor)
3Km -
8:14.97
5Km -
13:54.47
10Km - 29:37
10 Mile -
47:40
Half-Marathon
- 1:05:42
Marathon -
2:20:12
Michael Cox
Biography compiled by Coach Mike McMillion (updated 03/27/18)