The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AS she continues the completion of her senior year for the Running Eagles at Life University, Bahamian jumper Bria Sands said she’s grateful to be crowned the Mid-South Conference Athlete of the Year again.

Sands, the sister of Olympic triple jump bronze medallist Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands, earned the feat at the championships held on Sunday and Monday and was joined by Bahamian first year head coach Dominic Demeritte, who was named the Coach of the Year.

The duo helped the Running Eagles clinch the MSC title for the first time in the programme’s history with 217 points in Williamsburg, Kentucky, on Monday night.

“It feels great. I was very excited because this is my last year, I’m getting ready to graduate and just really wanted to put my best foot forward.

“With COVID-19, there were a lot of changes, so I was really excited. I didn’t even think that I would have won the award.

“But it was great. I had a great time performing and getting out and competing for my school.”

Sands, 23, exploded for personal records in both the 100m and 200m dashes, leading all racers with times of 11.73 and 24.34 to qualify for the NAIA National Championships in both events.

The championship was a team event with many athletes joining the 5-foot, 7-inch Sands in contributing points to the win. They included Arianna Madison, who took fourth in the heptathlon, sprinter Alexia Perkins, middle distance runner Kamryn Kimmel, distance runners Kaitlin Ivey, Tatiana Gonzalez and Hannah Burner and jumpers Kayless Lowe and Silja Petursdottir.

Sands is no stranger to receiving such awards, having won MSC Freshman of the Year and she was a two-time Indoor and Outdoor AOY. But she said she was just as thrilled to be able to finish off her senior year with a bang.

Sands’ main goal right now is to get ready for the NAIA National Championships that will bring her collegiate career to a close during the weekend of May 26-28 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

“Because I do a little more events than most people, it puts me at an advantage,” Sands said. “But the high jump was my first love and now I’m getting better at the triple jump. I also love the long jump, but I might have to put that aside as I try to focus on improving in at least one or maybe two of them when I’m done with college.”

While Demeritte, a former national team sprinter who excelled for the St John’s College Giants and the North Carolina Tar Heels, is the head coach, Sands is being coached at Life University by O’Neil Wright, the assistant coach.

She had to abandon her training with Bahamian coach Nyles Stuart because he wasn’t a part of the Running Eagles’ programme, but Sands said she’s just happy to be able to complete her tenure at Life University where she is studying General Studies.

And although she plans to go on the circuit and compete as a professional athlete after graduation, Sands said she would also like to return to the classroom to focus on her academics with a degree on animal science and research.

On Demeritte winning the COY honours, Sands said it just adds fuel to the Bahamian connection in Marietta, Georgia.

“I’m just happy to see all of us succeeding,” Sands said. “I know coach Dominic all of my life, just like I know coach Nyles all my life, so it’s so good to see people there,” she said.

“I have a sense of being at home and I can relate to my background. I’m very excited about that, knowing that I have so much support over here that I can count on.”