By BRENT STUBBS
Senior SPORTS REPORTER
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
Having persevered in almost similar fashion from humble beginnings, Bahamian triple sporting star Melinda Bastian and multiple distance running national record holder O’Neil Williams emerged as two of the top student-athletes ever produced at Benedict College.
While Bastian was able to return to Colombia, South Carolina on Thursday, October 21 to be inducted into the 2021 Hall of Fame class, Williams didn’t get to travel to his alma mater from Africa because of a lack of funding.
The duo, nonetheless, were enshrined along with James Byrd, Gerald Herbert (‘90), Ramon Robinson (‘99), Tina Ivory Sanders (‘06), Attorney Ralph Warren (‘71), Gerard Washington (‘06) and Anthony Wilson (‘97).
After getting a “fresh new start” at Benedict College from 2007-2011, Bastian, who ran cross country, threw the javelin and played both volleyball and softball, graduated with a 3.26 grade point average and cum laude with her degree in therapeutic recreation.
“I feel very proud and confident in myself because I was given a second opportunity for a fresh new start,” Bastian said. “I went to Benedict College at the age of 24 with two kids and was determined to get my degree and compete in sports at the same time.”
After graduating from CR Walker Secondary High where she shined for the Knights in just about every sport they participated in at the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association level, Bastian was enrolled in Garden City Community College in Kansas in 2002 on a partial scholarship.
The financial strain on her family forced her to return home where she began working and subsequently had her first two children, Vashawna Bastian and Vanessa Sawyer.
But because she always had that desire to better her life situation, Bastian said when coach Gwendolyn Rouse came to the Bahamas to sort her out on the advice of her teammates Cherese Rolle-Bain and Crystal Rolle-Brown, she jumped at the opportunity.
“I always wanted to become a physical education teacher, so I knew I had to get my degree,” said Bastian, who was just as impressive in the classroom as she was on the sports field.
“Cherese and Crystal encouraged the coach to come here to look for me. When she came, she provided me with the opportunity to go to Benedict College. So I am grateful to them all for their support.”
At Benedict College, Bastian emerged as one of the most dominant women’s athletes, not just in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), but also in the (National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II.
She was the SIAC Player of the Year twice in volleyball and was a two-time SIAC Track and Field Athlete of the Year and All-American. In volleyball, she was the SIAC Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008 and was the SIAC Tournament Most Valuable Player in 2008 and in softball, she was named to the SIAC All-Conference team as a shortstop.
“It’s a privilege. For the stamina of the athlete that I was and still am today, representing the country in three different sports, track and field, volleyball and softball, if the school can see the calibre of athlete that I am, it should open the eyes of the Bahamas in paying attention to what they have.”
On her return home, Bastian started her employment as a security officer until she got a call from the Ministry of Education in October, 2011 to June 2012 as a Teacher’s Aide at Columbus Primary.
On the completion of that assignment, she was hired permanently and was first enrolled at LW Young Junior High for five years before she was transferred to AF Adderley.
At the age of 37 and with two additional children, Omar Bastian and Michael Higgs Jr, Bastian said she’s thrilled to have been given the opportunity to go to college, get her degree while competing and returning home to make a contribution to the Bahamas.
Her only regret is that there are no active sporting events for her to instruct her students in the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) or to participate in the New Providence Softball Association or the New Providence Volleyball Association as a top notch competitor.
Williams, the Bahamian national marathon record holder, helped Benedict College earn their first SIAC cross country championships in 2008. He also earned All-Region and SIAC Athlete of the Year accolades during his collegiate career at Benedict College.
Williams, 38, said he’s grateful to Benedict College for bestowing such a prestigious honour as an inductee in this year’s class.
“It’s overwhelming and surreal. I never knew that I was going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame,” he said. “I had some idea, but when the coach tried to contact me through some of our athletes, I was really excited.
“I haven’t heard of any other Bahamian distance runner inducted into the Hall of Fame for their college. So if there was any, I know I’m in a special field of just a few, but if there are none, I’m glad to be a pioneer. No matter what, it’s a fantastic feeling.”
After graduating from LW Young Secondary High in 2000, Williams remembered when he approached former Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar in 2006 about purchasing himself a plane ticket to get to South Carolina. The next day, Williams said he left for Benedict College with just a t-shirt, pants and a pair of slippers on his feet to begin his tenure. At the time, Williams told the coach that if he didn’t come then, he wasn’t coming any other time.
“When I got there, I really helped to shape the distance running programme at Benedict College,” he said.
“We had Morehouse College next door and they were beating just about every historic black college in that area.
“But when I went there, I dominated every race I competed in from the 800 to the 10,000m. I even did the steeplechase and I won cross country for the school. It was just a great experience for me.”
Not only did Williams excel athletically, but academically, he maintained a 3.50 or above GPA and he eventually graduated magna cum laude with a master’s degree in accounting with a 3.6 GPA for the duration of his tenure at Benedict College.
“I came from humble beginnings,” said Williams, who was left in the hospital at the age of two months by his biological mother and was raised by his great-grandmother Janetta White, who was 87 at the time. “So just to go to college was an honour, coming out of the ghetto in Englerston. It was a great achievement.”
While he appreciated the support he got from D’Aguilar, his great-grandmother and aunt, Joanne Sweeting, Williams said he will forever be indebted to Dawn Knowles as well, who like an adopted mother, assured him that she will make sure he goes off to college.
He also thanked his father-figure, mentor, coach Wilson Bain for paying for a ticket for him when he got stuck in Amsterdam after he broke the national marathon record in 2019. “He used his credit card to purchase a ticket for me and told me not to worry about repaying him until I got back on my feet.”
And from the time he first ventured to Kenya in 2011, Williams said Shavaughn Blades, a member of the Bahamas Roadmasters, has extended a helping hand along with D’Aguilar to assist him in his training.
Still disappointed that he couldn’t get any consistent assistance from the government to continue his training in Kenya, Williams said he’s pressing forward and is now preparing to run in the Valencia marathon on December 5.
Additionally, Williams is also planning his wedding to his engaged African/Bahamian girlfriend, Faith - the mother of his one-year-old daughter Janeil.
“I’ve represented the country for over 20 years now and I just want the country to help me out after I’ve been doing this for all these years,” he summed up. “I’m looking forward to coming home and starting my new life with my family when I retire from the sport.”
In addition to his marathon record (two hours, 29 minutes and 26 seconds), Williams is listed as national record holder in the 5,000m (14:00.54), 5 km road (16:48), 10 km road (33:34), 15 km road (50:44), 20 km road (1:08.20), half marathon (1:12.02), 25 km road (1:25.24), 30 km road (1:42.52) and 3,000m steeplechase (9:38.3).
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