The Tribune

THE University of The Bahamas track and field team posted four top 10 finishes - three from multi-event specialist Kendrick Thompson - at the University of Central Florida Black and Gold meet over the weekend that included powerhouse track schools such as Kentucky and Michigan.

Thompson placed fifth in the men’s 400m event, sixth in the men’s javelin, and 10th in the long jump competition with two season’s best performances. Davia Wright took 10th in the women’s 3,000m event.

“This was a great performance for the team despite all that we have gone through with the pandemic,” head coach Ednal Rolle said. “We got some season best times and personal bests and we can work with that. The competition here was high-level and many of our athletes stepped up to that challenge.”

In the 400m event, Thompson got out fast but the wind on the home stretch was a challenge for him. Despite the challenge he was still able to put up a season’s best 48.32 second performance and a fourth place finish in the first heat. His time would have won all but one of the subsequent heats.

Even though he struggled in the javelin competition with only one legal throw, Thompson showed strong promise. He faulted on his first attempt and got his best and only throw off on his second attempt at 59.87m (196 feet – 5 inches).

“He had a great season opener with that and I think we can only improve after that,” Rolle said.

Thompson scratched all of his remaining four attempts - three for foot faults and one on a sector violation - but they seemed better throws that his only legal attempt.

In long jump, Thompson popped his best jump of 7.07m (23 feet – 2 ½ inches) on his first attempt. His second attempt was a bit shorter at 6.58m (21 feet – 7 ¼ inches) and he passed on his third attempt because he participated in the 200m event.

He finished 19th in the 200m in 21.54.

Distance runner Davia Wright stayed with the pack for much of the women’s 3000m event and was able to hold on for tenth spot and a personal best in 11:03.57.

Sprinter Romica Josey put up a season’s best 58.09 in the women’s 400m event. She was able to get out fast but the third hundred of the race she seemed to lose speed in the blistering heat and finished 15th. She finished 82nd in the 200m in 26.15 seconds.

“It was a good race but I know I can work harder to get that time down,” she said.

Sprinter Donya Roberts had an impressive start in the men’s 400m event and worked on the backstretch and finished in a season’s best 50.13 for 18th spot.

He also took 51st in the 200m event in 22.76.

Paige Stuart got out of the blocks fast in the women’s 100m to finish in 12.3 and 32nd overall.

Tevin Wright took 38th in the men’s 100m event in 11.58 and 69th in the 200m event in 24.30.

Brittany Lundy was strong over the first set of hurdles in the women’s 100m hurdle event and finished in 16.66 for 42nd spot. She finished 59th in the 100m event in a time of 13.32.

Branae Russell, in her first international meet, took 53rd in the women’s 100m event in 12.81.

Sierra Sears finished 41nd in the women’s 800m event in 2:40.40.

The women’s 4x100m relay team of Branae Russell, Paige Stuart, Brittany Lundy and Romica Josey had a decent run of 49.35 to finish 15th.

The women’s 4x400m relay team (Josey, Stuart, Lundy, and Sierra Sears) took the 17th spot in 4:11.95.

This meet was the first international meet for the Mingoes since the pandemic stopped competition in March of 2020.