The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MALCOLM Williams and Sabriya Farquharson, two of the athletes of the year, were proud that the Roadrunners Track and Field Club brought back its annual awards and presentation banquet after missing last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The duo were among the top athletes honoured on Saturday night as the Roadrunners held the 21st edition of the presentation of awards banquet in the Imperial Room of the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island under the theme: “One Mind, One Focus, One Destination .... Success.”

Among the list of dignitaries on hand were Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg, Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations president Drumeco Archer, BAAA CEO May Miller, dedicated sponsors Harrison Petty and Timothy Ingraham, in addition to First Baptist pastor, Rev Dianna Francis, who serves as the chaplain for the club.

The keynote speaker was Dr Shantell Missick, the operator of the Dynamic Healing Wellness Center.

She encouraged the athletes to follow three important words - courageous, powerful and remarkable.

In relating how she had to endure her own pain, struggles and disappointment to get to where she is today, Missick said she never gave up and just like she was motivated, she advised the audience to adopt her mantra in the three words she outlined as they look for their success story.

An array of awards from academics to athletics were presented to the athletes for their achievement over the past season, including the prestigious Dominique Higgins Award for the highest grade point average. Both recipients Taleah Edwards and Anthony Pedican earned an impressive 4.0 GPA.

While Williams was named the male under-20 athlete of the Year, Farquharson carted off the female under-17 trophy. They were joined by Shankea Sands (under-7 girls), Cassidy Pratt (under-11 girls), Jasmine Thompson and Tamia Edward (co under-13 girls), Iesha Hanna (under- 15 girls), Rayeah Taylor (under-20 girls), Ronald Simon (under-9 boys) and Dana Rolle (under-17 boys). In winning his award, 17-year-old Williams said while he’s been a member of the club for the past seven years, he would like to make the CARIFTA team heading to Kingston, Jamaica in April. “I feel good because I have been improving where I dropped a second off my personal best 400 metre time going from 50 to 49 seconds,” said Williams, a graduate of St Anne’s School, now into his freshman year at the University of the Bahamas.

Williams, who is hoping to dip as low as 46 seconds, said he will use this award as his incentive for the upcoming season next year.

“I appreciate the opportunity for us to have this banquet so everyone can get their awards,” Williams said. “Everybody can feel appreciated for what they worked for. So I think it was good that we did it this year after they didn’t have one last year.”

Farquharson, a 16-year-old student of St Augustine’s College, is a multi-talented athlete who not only runs the 100 and 200m, but she soars in both the long and triple jumps.

“My performances were excellent this past season. I did the triple jump in all of the meets with no injuries, so I thank God,” said Farquharson, who claimed first place in her age group in every triple jump she competed in. “This season was the first time that I jumped from the 11-metre board, although I was under-17 and I didn’t have to do it. I did it to prove that I could do it and I did. So thank God for that.”

Like Williams., Farquharson too is eager to make the CARIFTA team next year. But for now, she’s just content with the Roadrunners staging another awards presentation banquet.

“I thank God. It’s only him that could have brought me this far,” she lamented.

“This past season was a tough year, it was all worth it when we could come here and get the awards for our accomplishments as a club. I’m thankful to God for that as well.”

The most outstanding athletes selected were the following:

Female - Taleah Edwards (under-7); Cataleya Vargas (under-9); Azalia Henderson (under-11); Jkalyah Rolle (under- 13); Tamia Taylor (under-15); Telico Seymour (under-17) and Rowlia Joseph (under-20).

Male - Logan Thompson (under-7); Avery Johnson (under- 9); Anfernee Garrison and Anthony Pedicab (co-under-13); Teron Davis (under-15) and Jackson Ozias (under-20).

Ingraham, the general manager of Summit Insurance Company, was also the honoured guest this year. He made another cheque presentation to Roadrunners club president and head coach Dexter Bodie.

Bodie, who was hailed all night for his dedicated commitment to the club, announced that moving forward, the Honour Roll award will be named in honour of Ingraham, while the Athlete of the Year honour will be changed to the Harrison Petty award in recognition of his contribution to the club since 1999 as a sponsor.

And Petty has attended just about every banquet held.

Minister Bowleg, Archer and Petty all congratulated coach Bodie and his coaching staff for the stellar job they are doing with the athletes. Bowleg even went on to say that Bodie could be receiving a special award very soon for his faithfulness to his club over the years.

Petty said he decided to stick with the club because he was so proud of how they were able to develop coaches, who were not former athletes. But they have exerted themselves to become professionals in their various job vocations, he said.

He encouraged the student-athletes to aspire for a job in one of the STEM groups - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - because that is where the future lies on the job market.

Wayne Smith, a long-time physical education teacher and coach in Grand Bahama, came to town to serve as the master of ceremony.