Monday, December 10, 2018

#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#ROLANDO ‘Lonnie’ Greene, in his first year as head coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats’ track and field team, liked what he saw from freshman sprinter Devine Parker in her collegiate debut at the Hoosier open indoor meet in Lexington, Kentucky, on Friday.

#The St Anne’s High School graduate posted one of the nine victories and was also third in the 60 metres as she helped to mark the official welcome meet for Greene from Purdue University and his new coaching staff that includes fellow Bahamian “Golden Girl” Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie.

#At the same time, it was a reunion of sorts as Greene and Ferguson-McKenzie re-connected with Norbert Elliott, now the new head coach at Purdue University. Elliott, likewise, got some sterling performances from sprinter Samson Colebrooke and jumper Tamar Greene.

#But if that wasn’t enough for the Bahamian connection, high jumper Etienne Jyles soared to victory for Indiana University.

#Parker was impressive

#After placing second in her heat of the 60 metres in 7.53 seconds to advance to the final with the third fastest time, the clock malfunctioned in the final and her time was not recorded for her third place. Greene said if the clock was working properly, he felt Parker would have punched her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships, scheduled for March 8-9 in Birmingham, Alabama.

#But Parker came back in the 200m and easily won in 24.20 in her introduction to the 200m one-lap bank track.

#“She had a very good performance. I thought her 60m was a very good race in the final as the race timed in 7.1. In my mind, it looked like that as she was a very close third,” Greene said.

#The 200m, she won, but I thought she was a little bit conservative being her first time running on a bank track. But for the most part, she did a very good job. For her inaugural freshman campaign, I was very pleased with it. There’s a whole lot more to come from her.”

#With her next meet scheduled for January 11 in a home meet in Kentucky, Greene said he has his money on Parker qualifying for NCAAs in the 60m, but the 200m is a long shot.

#Colebrooke has

#surprising performances

#Queen’s College graduate Samson Colebrooke, making his junior debut for Purdue University after he completed his two-year tenure at Barton Community College, won his heat of the men’s 60m in 6.72 for the fastest qualifying time in the final. However, he had to settle for second in the final with identical times of 6.68 with Indiana University’s Rikko Brathwaite.

#The 21-year-old Colebrooke, taking advantage of an increase in his size, came back and pulled off the victory in the men’s 300m in 33.87.

#“What we did with him was to increase his size in the weight room and so that was a surprised opener,” Elliott reflected. “He’s been working out really well. We knew that he would run fast, but he surpassed our expectations. He trains with our Big Ten champion Was Williams, a CARIFTA champion from Jamaica. So he’s literally training to run well, but I didn’t think he would run that fast.”

#Greene double

#dips in top five

#In his double duties on the field for Purdue University, Greene soared to a fifth place finish in the men’s long jump with a leap of 6.84 metres or 22-feet, 5 1/4-inches. His team-mate Jah Strange won with a distance of 7.15m (23-5 1/2).

#Greene bounced back in the triple jump, clearing 15.76m (51-8 1/2) for third place. The winner was Indiana University’s Eric Bethea with a best of 15.82m (51-11).

#“This is Tamar’s completion of year one because he came to us last spring and we didn’t have a whole lot of time to train and prepare him,” Elliott said. “He sort of jumped right into it without a whole lot of preparation because he had some visa issues and he was working on those things to get over here.

#“So this is really the end of year one, but he’s had the fall to train and now Tamar is showing the kind of fitness that we know he could have shown, had he had time to train when he first came to us. So we look at Tamar to have a really great year.”

#Elliott projected that both Samson and Greene are potential Big Ten Conference champions. “Both of them are capable of qualifying for the National Championships and anybody who qualifies for the National Championships is an elite athlete,” said Elliott, a former elite athlete himself in the men’s triple jump at the University of Texas-El Paso.

#“Both of those two guys were among the Bahamas’ top junior athletes, so they are definitely two athletes we look forward to seeing compete in the future. Our goal is to just make sure they stay healthy.”

#Etienne wins

#In the men’s high jump, Etienne took the title with a leap of 2.15m (7-0 1/2). He passed his first three attempts at 1.92m (6-3 1/2), 1.97m (6-5 1/2) and 2.01m (6-7) on his first attempt and cleared his opening height at 2.05m (6-8 3/4) on his first attempt. He passed again at 2.09m (6-10 1/4) and 2.12m (6-11 1/2) before he returned to action to clear 2.15m (7-0 1/2) on his second attempt.

#With only two misses left, he couldn’t clear 2.22m (7-3 1/4), but it was good enough for the 2016 New York State champion for Stony Brook School to hold onto the win. His nearest rival was Rahman Minor of Kentucky with his best of 2.09m (6-10 1/4).

#Happy Reunion

#The meet turned out to be a true Bahamian connection with coaches Greene and Elliott, who a year ago were the head and assistant coaches at Purdue, while Ferguson-McKenzie was an assistant at the University of Houston. Now Greene is the head coach at Kentucky with Ferguson-McKenzie as his assistant and Elliott moved up to take over as the head coach at Purdue.

#“It was a really special moment to be back with them,” said Elliott, who was also a coach of Ferguson-McKenzie when she competed at the University of Georgia. “It came down to the 4 x 400m relay and for a minute there, I thought we would have won. But we finished second behind Kentucky. That would have been some serious bragging rights that I would have had on Lonnie. But his kids came out on top.”

#For Greene, the feeling was more reminiscent of his time at Purdue. “It was great. It was great. We normally win that meet in December and to be in that facility in another school, it was weird,” Greene pointed out.

#“Every time they would mention someone from Purdue, I would say ‘oh that’s my kid.’ But I had to catch myself. Norbert is doing a great job as the athletic director in track and field. It was good to see my friend at the end of the day and compete competitively against him.

#“In my humble opinion, it was good. Everybody at the meet was asking about the colours I was wearing. They were so used to me being in black and gold and now I’m in blue and white. They say those colours don’t even look normal on me. But it was a good meet and it was good to go up against one hell of a coach in Norbert Elliott.”

#The two schools will be at the Razorback Invitational January 25-26 in Fayetteville, Arkansas and again at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina February 8-9.

Rolando ‘Lonnie’ Greene (left) is shown with athletes Devyenne Charlton and Carmiesha Cox and coach Norbert Elliott.

October 12, 2018

#ROLANDO ‘Lonnie’ Greene is grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to move from one head coaching job in college track and field to another.

#In his transition from Purdue University to the University of Kentucky, Greene intends to continue to strengthen his Bahamian connection with his coaching staff and the athletes on the team.

#Over the weekend while here to participate in the Bahamas Athletic Foundation’s Coaches Professional Development Conference at SuperClubs Breezes, Greene shared a passionate interview on his road to success from a sub-par jumper at AF Adderley High School to one of the elite coaches in the NCAA Division One ranks.

#“When I went to college at Murray State University, I was a bio-chemist major out of AF Adderley,” Greene said. “When I went there, the biological science and physics was great. I never took chemistry in high school, so it ran me out of the bio-chemistry class. I realised that I couldn’t be successful there.

#“So I ended up not knowing what to do and so I went into career planning and placement and they gave me this multi-talented test to do. I took it and the professor said with the talent that I have, I need to be working with people. I looked at this dude and I said I wanted to be a doctor. That was my flesh, but God had something else in plan and in store for me.”

#At grad school at Southwest Missouri State University, Greene said he called Patrick Bailey, who was at Central State Missouri, and he encouraged him to pursue his new found dream of becoming an athletic coach and after he engulfed himself in everything that had to do with the sport, he finally got his first break as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas.

#“For me, did I ever think I would be a college coach, ‘no,’ but I know I’m in the place where God would have me to be,” he said. “I know that, so I’m just going to continue to be a good steward of what he has blessed me with, holding people to the highest expectations.”

#Trying to hold back the tears in his eyes, Greene said he could not have had a better experience than he did for the past six years as the head coach at Purdue where he transformed the Boilermakers’ athletic team as the toast of the Big Ten Conference where he earned a number of individual accolades.

#“I’m grateful for that opportunity,” he said. “They gave me a shot, they gave me an opportunity when I knew I was ready. I went there for the interview and after I got the job, I was ‘Lord, why did I get this job. Why couldn’t I get a Texas or Florida or a programme that was banging.

#“But I think when I looked back at it all, he did it that way because of the impact that he was going to allow me to make. I think it was great that way. I interviewed for the Texas job. Notre Dame wanted me to come this year, but I told them I wasn’t interested. Then Kentucky and the way they orchestrated it, I just had to work on some things from a professional standpoint.”

#That came as a result of the journey that he went through at Purdue. “I would not have done it any other way,” Greene reflected. “I thought we were successful, I thought we were making an impact, I thought we were graduating kids with some engineering degrees, business degrees and we had kids that were 10, 12, 16 times All-America.

#Bahamian Devynne Charlton, just to name one, was 12-time Big Ten champion, 12-time first team All-American, Athlete of the Year on numerous occasions.

#One of the highlights during his tenure in Purdue, according to Greene, was not winning titles or helping his athletes to shine, but it was when one of his former athletes returned and introduced his son, whom he named Rolando after him.

#“When he said coach Rolando, I want you to meet Rolando, I just broke,” Greene stated. “He could have named his son after his dad, but he named his son after me. And this was a Caucasian kid, this wasn’t a black kid. After I pulled myself together, I asked him how is the kid going to go around with a black name and the father said to me, ‘he’s going to be fine.’ He lives in North Dakota as an engineer.

#“Watching Devynne run 7.8 for the 60m hurdles, watching her just barely losing the NCAA title in the 100 hurdles, knowing that she came to us running 13.8 and now running 12.6 and is one of the better hurdlers in the world and watching her make the World Championships as a student in college, knowing that she is getting a marine biology degree.

#Those were considered some of his highlights, coupled with watching another Bahamian Carmiesha Cox go to graduate school and work on her MBA and being a multi-time All-American. Those are the things that Greene said he will cherish for the rest of his life.

#If there was any low point on his pathway, Greene said he had to ask his wife, LaTayna Stewart-Greene, to give up a principal job and follow him to Purdue where he had to convince the athletes there not only to be the best they can be, but at the same token, try not to finish last in the conference.

#“The proof is in the puddling because Purdue is now a nationally respected institution ranked in NCAA division one track and field,” he pointed out.

#Looking back at all of the successes at Purdue, Green said he could not have done it without the coaching staff that he was blessed with. He attributed a lot of his successes to persons like fellow Bahamian Norbert Elliott and his wife, who served as assistant coaches. Now in his departure, Norbert Elliott has assumed the head coaching job at Purdue.

#“Norbert was one of my heroes in track and field. When Norbert came home from UTEP as a junior or senior, he came home for high school nationals and I was jumping with a hamstring injury and everybody was gravitating to Wendell Lawrence and Dudson Higgins,” Greene recalled.

#“Norbert saw me and he called me to the fence. He asked me what happened to my hamstring and I told him I pulled it. He said move your approach three feet back and run. He said tear the hamstring and jump. That simple advice allowed me to jump 49-feet, 2-inches to get a scholarship to go to college.”

#Surprisingly their paths crossed again in the United States where they were assistant coaches. In their conversations, they both agreed that if either of them got the call as a head coach, they would seek each other out to work as their assistant.

#“God just had it that I got the call first at Purdue and when I called him and asked him if he was ready to put his money where his mouth was, he said ‘let’s do it,'” Greene said. “It was great. But I was amazed at the end of my tenure at Purdue how God worked it out where he put all the cards in my hands and I was able to recommend Norbert Elliott to take over and I gave them all of the reasons why.

#“So that the programme don’t die, I recommended that they give him the chair. They might lose a body or two, but they won’t have a mad exodus out of Purdue. God just gave me a voice and I was able to use it for good and he was the one. Purdue got it right when they hired him to take over as the head coach after I left.They got it right. The men will be great. The women might take a step back, but they will get it together.”

#From one Bahamian assistant to another, Greene said it didn’t take rocket science for him to lure “Golden Girl” Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie from the University of Houston as an assistant to join him at Kentucky.

#“She’s a Bahamian. They told me I had to hire a woman. She’s a Bahamian, but I knew she was out there, so she would have had to tell me no,” Greene stressed. “Charity begins at the house. Charity begins at home. She’s a home girl. I’ve known Debbie from she was a little girl at St Andrew’s School and I tried to recruit her back then, but I was just too young for coach Pancho (Frank Rahming) to entrust her to me, so they sent her to Norbert, who was an assistant at the University of Georgia.”

#Whenever their paths crossed at meets, Greene said he always treated Ferguson to a “turkey leg” meal and so when the opportunity presented itself this year for her to work with him at Kentucky, he couldn’t resist and she quite naturally accepted the offer.

#“She’s doing an excellent job right now,” Greene said. “She’s the conduit between myself and coach Hall. So when you have an opportunity to help another Bahamian, who wouldn’t. I know I would. You tell me you’re from the 242, I would help you. It’s just the Bahamian pride, but I know she will do it in an excellent way.”

#Like he did at Purdue where he had some outstanding Bahamian talent, Greene believes that they have the next real deal in Bahamian sprints in Divine Parker, who is in her freshman year after competing for St Anne’s School.

#“That’s our next sprint queen,” Greene quipped without hesitation. “I don’t care what nobody says, I don’t care who you see holding the trophy, that’s the Bahamas’ next sprint queen, in my opinion. She works directly with coach Hall, but he’s excellent with what he does. She is buying in like there’s no tomorrow.

#“She’s going to be the next one. Shaunae Miller-Uibo is taking the Bahamas to great heights and will continue to do that, but I think Divine is the next one. We have some others out there doing some stuff, but I think Divine will be the next sprint queen in the country. I won’t be surprised if she’s not at the World Championships next year. She’s looking that good and she’s only been with us for about five weeks.”

#Although he’s living out one of his passions as a head coach, Greene believes that if he wasn’t coaching, he believes at age 51 years old, he probably would be in ministry preaching the gospel.

#“I probably would be in the pulpit somewhere. I don’t know if it would have been here or in the US, I would be in ministry,” he said. “But the way I look at ministry, I believe I’m doing it now because I remember when one of my athlete’s father was dying from cancer, I was able to pray with him and make him to understand that his father was healed because he went to a better place.

#“To have a kid walk into my office and ask me to pray for their mother, I believe I am in ministry. I don’t have to stand in the pulpit, but I know I can preach the word if I have to. So if I wasn’t coaching, I would be in people’s business preaching the word of God. I just want to be someone who wants to make an impact.”

#Motivated by a message on purpose he heard from the late Dr Myles Munroe while he was in college, Greene said he asked God to show him his purpose and it wasn’t medicine or law, two fields he was eager to pursue at the time. He said it was making an impact as a coach and that is what he is doing now.

#“I always wanted to retire at age 65, so I think I have about 13 years left to fulfil that,” he stated. “Five years from now, I hope to still be coaching, 10 years from now, I want to continue. 15 years, me and my wife will probably be trying to figure out what we will be doing with our grandchildren.”

#But, in the meantime as a Bahamian, Greene said if the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations calls him today to coach the national team, he will jump to the opportunity in a heartbeat.

#“I would be here tomorrow if they say ‘Lonnie would you be one of our coaches'”, he insisted. “Barring any emergency that would affect my wife or my children or one of my athletes, I would be there every day of the week and twice on Sunday. It will be an honour. Anytime you get to serve your country in any which way, it is an honour. I don’t care how simple or advanced, it is an honour.”

Monday, December 10, 2018

#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#ROLANDO ‘Lonnie’ Greene, in his first year as head coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats’ track and field team, liked what he saw from freshman sprinter Devine Parker in her collegiate debut at the Hoosier open indoor meet in Lexington, Kentucky, on Friday.

#The St Anne’s High School graduate posted one of the nine victories and was also third in the 60 metres as she helped to mark the official welcome meet for Greene from Purdue University and his new coaching staff that includes fellow Bahamian “Golden Girl” Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie.

#At the same time, it was a reunion of sorts as Greene and Ferguson-McKenzie re-connected with Norbert Elliott, now the new head coach at Purdue University. Elliott, likewise, got some sterling performances from sprinter Samson Colebrooke and jumper Tamar Greene.

#But if that wasn’t enough for the Bahamian connection, high jumper Etienne Jyles soared to victory for Indiana University.

#Parker was impressive

#After placing second in her heat of the 60 metres in 7.53 seconds to advance to the final with the third fastest time, the clock malfunctioned in the final and her time was not recorded for her third place. Greene said if the clock was working properly, he felt Parker would have punched her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships, scheduled for March 8-9 in Birmingham, Alabama.

#But Parker came back in the 200m and easily won in 24.20 in her introduction to the 200m one-lap bank track.

#“She had a very good performance. I thought her 60m was a very good race in the final as the race timed in 7.1. In my mind, it looked like that as she was a very close third,” Greene said.

#The 200m, she won, but I thought she was a little bit conservative being her first time running on a bank track. But for the most part, she did a very good job. For her inaugural freshman campaign, I was very pleased with it. There’s a whole lot more to come from her.”

#With her next meet scheduled for January 11 in a home meet in Kentucky, Greene said he has his money on Parker qualifying for NCAAs in the 60m, but the 200m is a long shot.

#Colebrooke has

#surprising performances

#Queen’s College graduate Samson Colebrooke, making his junior debut for Purdue University after he completed his two-year tenure at Barton Community College, won his heat of the men’s 60m in 6.72 for the fastest qualifying time in the final. However, he had to settle for second in the final with identical times of 6.68 with Indiana University’s Rikko Brathwaite.

#The 21-year-old Colebrooke, taking advantage of an increase in his size, came back and pulled off the victory in the men’s 300m in 33.87.

#“What we did with him was to increase his size in the weight room and so that was a surprised opener,” Elliott reflected. “He’s been working out really well. We knew that he would run fast, but he surpassed our expectations. He trains with our Big Ten champion Was Williams, a CARIFTA champion from Jamaica. So he’s literally training to run well, but I didn’t think he would run that fast.”

#Greene double

#dips in top five

#In his double duties on the field for Purdue University, Greene soared to a fifth place finish in the men’s long jump with a leap of 6.84 metres or 22-feet, 5 1/4-inches. His team-mate Jah Strange won with a distance of 7.15m (23-5 1/2).

#Greene bounced back in the triple jump, clearing 15.76m (51-8 1/2) for third place. The winner was Indiana University’s Eric Bethea with a best of 15.82m (51-11).

#“This is Tamar’s completion of year one because he came to us last spring and we didn’t have a whole lot of time to train and prepare him,” Elliott said. “He sort of jumped right into it without a whole lot of preparation because he had some visa issues and he was working on those things to get over here.

#“So this is really the end of year one, but he’s had the fall to train and now Tamar is showing the kind of fitness that we know he could have shown, had he had time to train when he first came to us. So we look at Tamar to have a really great year.”

#Elliott projected that both Samson and Greene are potential Big Ten Conference champions. “Both of them are capable of qualifying for the National Championships and anybody who qualifies for the National Championships is an elite athlete,” said Elliott, a former elite athlete himself in the men’s triple jump at the University of Texas-El Paso.

#“Both of those two guys were among the Bahamas’ top junior athletes, so they are definitely two athletes we look forward to seeing compete in the future. Our goal is to just make sure they stay healthy.”

#Etienne wins

#In the men’s high jump, Etienne took the title with a leap of 2.15m (7-0 1/2). He passed his first three attempts at 1.92m (6-3 1/2), 1.97m (6-5 1/2) and 2.01m (6-7) on his first attempt and cleared his opening height at 2.05m (6-8 3/4) on his first attempt. He passed again at 2.09m (6-10 1/4) and 2.12m (6-11 1/2) before he returned to action to clear 2.15m (7-0 1/2) on his second attempt.

#With only two misses left, he couldn’t clear 2.22m (7-3 1/4), but it was good enough for the 2016 New York State champion for Stony Brook School to hold onto the win. His nearest rival was Rahman Minor of Kentucky with his best of 2.09m (6-10 1/4).

#Happy Reunion

#The meet turned out to be a true Bahamian connection with coaches Greene and Elliott, who a year ago were the head and assistant coaches at Purdue, while Ferguson-McKenzie was an assistant at the University of Houston. Now Greene is the head coach at Kentucky with Ferguson-McKenzie as his assistant and Elliott moved up to take over as the head coach at Purdue.

#“It was a really special moment to be back with them,” said Elliott, who was also a coach of Ferguson-McKenzie when she competed at the University of Georgia. “It came down to the 4 x 400m relay and for a minute there, I thought we would have won. But we finished second behind Kentucky. That would have been some serious bragging rights that I would have had on Lonnie. But his kids came out on top.”

#For Greene, the feeling was more reminiscent of his time at Purdue. “It was great. It was great. We normally win that meet in December and to be in that facility in another school, it was weird,” Greene pointed out.

#“Every time they would mention someone from Purdue, I would say ‘oh that’s my kid.’ But I had to catch myself. Norbert is doing a great job as the athletic director in track and field. It was good to see my friend at the end of the day and compete competitively against him.

#“In my humble opinion, it was good. Everybody at the meet was asking about the colours I was wearing. They were so used to me being in black and gold and now I’m in blue and white. They say those colours don’t even look normal on me. But it was a good meet and it was good to go up against one hell of a coach in Norbert Elliott.”

#The two schools will be at the Razorback Invitational January 25-26 in Fayetteville, Arkansas and again at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina February 8-9.

Clockwise from left: Rolando Greene, Debbie Ferguson, Megan Moss, Devynne Charlton and Jaida Knowles.

Friday, January 8, 2021

#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#Their season won’t start until next weekend but, by then, head coach Rolando ‘Lonnie’ Greene expects to be out of his coronavirus pandemic quarantine and back on the sidelines with his University of Kentucky Wildcats track and field team.

#Greene, who now heads a Bahamian connection of coaches and athletes for the Wildcats after he left his coaching chores with the Boilermakers at Purdue University in 2018, has been confined to home for the past week as he recuperates from the symptoms of the deadly virus.

#“The Bahamian girls have had great falls,” said Greene as he looks ahead to the participation of sophomore quarter-miler Megan Moss, freshman sprinter Jaida Knowles and volunteer assistant and professional hurdler Devynne Charlton as they prepare to compete in the McCravy Green Invitational (Indoors) next weekend.

#“I haven’t seen them since they got back from the Christmas break because I was diagnosed with COVID-19. I have been quarantined and away from everybody. My assistants were handling everything.”

#Prior to the break, Greene said Moss was in phenomenal shape and she constantly communicated with him on her progress when she was in Chicago over the Christmas holidays.

#“She is in some phenomenal shape right now,” he said of the 18-year-old who was named The Tribune’s Junior Female Athlete of the Year after running her season’s best of 24.09 seconds in the 200m and 52.58 in the 400m before the pandemic struck in March.

#“The key is to keep Megan healthy. Once she does that, she will be fine.”

#As for Knowles, who was joining her former St Augustine’s College team-mate in her first year at Kentucky, Greene said she suffered a slight injury just before Thanksgiving, but they managed to get her properly healed and ready to compete again.

#“I haven’t seen her since she came back here either,” Greene said. “But I’m expecting great things from her. I’m one of those coaches, if I recruit you on a scholarship, I expect you to perform both academically and athletically.

#“Jaida is a fine young woman. She’s just like (Megan) Moss.

#“But I think they are going to be fine. We’re going to be fine as a programme. We just need to be patient and cook the broth the proper way and not get ahead of ourselves.”

#As he reflected on his own personal battle with COVID-19, Greene asked Bahamians to protect themselves because “the virus is real.

#“Don’t let no one tell this isn’t real. This stuff is real. I have everything. Every symptom. I got so emotional the other day that I told my wife, LaTayna, that if I die, she will have enough money to take care of herself and the boys (Cameron, Isaiah and Jacob). That’s what I felt like, like I was dying. “I don’t have any breathing issues. I’m good. Don’t let those intellectuals try to tell you otherwise. I’m a man of faith, but the virus is real. I’m living it right now.”

#On day four of going through the easy stages, Greene said he slipped and fell in his bathroom and suffered a bruised nose. He said he felt better whenever he got to use the bathroom.

#“This stuff is real,” he stressed. “When I get through this, I will tell my full story of what I had to go through. I’ve documented everything and I will post it. So protect yourself.”

#With some very good assistants, including Bahamian “Golden Girl” Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, who came over from the University of Houston, Greene said he was able to monitor everything from home as they worked with the athletes as they prepare for their first meet next weekend.

#Also expected to compete in the meet is Charlton, who serves as a volunteer assistant, as she trains for the postponed 2020 Olympic Games that is expected to be held this year in Tokyo, Japan.

#“I was really looking forward to her competing in the World Indoors, but this virus has got the whole world on a standstill, so they cancelled the World Indoors,” said Greene of Charlton, who came over from Purdue University to train with her former Boilermakers’ head coach after she graduated.

#“So all we can do is take our time and get ready for Tokyo. We’ll adjust training and just get ready for Tokyo. She’s doing exceedingly well. She will be just fine this year.”

#Greene is also expecting to be “fine” after he completes his quarantine period this weekend. He said he probably won’t make any personal contact with the team until Monday or Tuesday just as a precaution.

#“I don’t have to be there. It’s just like we haven’t missed a beat,” he said. “But the kids have been calling and texting asking me if I’m okay. So that has blessed my heart.

#“Megan texted me and said coach I haven’t seen you since I got back. So it’s things like that has helped me to get through my ordeal. As a team, we will be okay.”

#The 54-year-old Greene said unlike him, because of his age, he’s more receptive to the symptoms than his athletes.

#Kentucky is competing in a bubble with the other schools in the Southeastern Conference where they all have to compete on the same weekend.

#“I thought we had a very good team to compete at Nationals this year, but delay doesn’t mean denial,” Greene said. “We still have a team to make a push at it.”

#Kentucky’s home meet next weekend will only allow them to accommodate about 450 persons, including the athletes, coaches and officials, although they can hold over 3,000.

#“They will warm up in the stadium and then come into the indoor stadium to compete,” Greene said. “It won’t be like the regular track meet. We won’t have a whole lot of people all over the place.

#“The kids who are going to be competitive will be competitive. I remember Sydney Cartwright when he was coaching in the Big Ten at Minnesota and I was at Arkansas. He said if you put horses on the track, they will run. So that stayed with me. The SEC is that type of league. You put them on the track and they will run. We are very competitive.”

#Before he went to Purdue in 2012, Greene served previously for 16 seasons as an assistant in the SEC, so he said he’s quite familiar with the competitiveness of what is arguably the toughest in college sports.

#After graduating with his B.S. from Murray State in 1989, Greene began his tenure with Missouri State University from 1991-95, the University of Minnesota from 1995-96 and the University of Arkansas from 2000-2012.

#While he is expected to be back with the Wildcats when they host the McCravy Green Invitational next weekend, Kentucky has at least three more meets to compete in before they get ready for the SEC Championships, scheduled for February 25-27 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

#If all plans for the rest of the season go through and they have any qualifiers, the indoor season will conclude with the NCAA Indoor Championships March 11-13 also in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

f Tuesday, December 22, 2020

COACH Terrance ‘Red Eye’ McSweeney on Saturday ended the five-weekend training camp in memory of his former Diamond Basketball development programme player Jonique ‘Mini’ Webb. Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#AFTER almost a year since she passed away, coach Terrance ‘Red Eye’ McSweeney finally completed a memorial for his former Diamond Basketball development programme player Jonique ‘Mini’ Webb.

#On Saturday, McSweeney ended the five-weekend training camp in honour of Webb, who died on January 19 at the age of 30 after she lost her battle with lupus.

#Webb, 30, was a part of the organisation from 1998 to 2006 after graduating from Jordan Prince Williams High School where she was a multiple sporting star of their Falcons ladies’ teams.

#“Today was more than what I anticipated. We had more than a handful of the girls who were coming out in the past,” McSweeney said.

#“We had six Saturdays honouring Jonique and we had her sorority, AKA, out and they came out and shared a lot of knowledge with the young girls here.”

#McSweeney said it was just a testament to Webb’s involvement as a person and her contribution to sports with the BSC also being involved in the activities.

#“Jonique was a lot of fun wherever she went and she always lit up a room with her enthusiasm,” McSweeney said. “Through God, we had a wonderful, sunny day with her parents, grandmother, sister and brother.

#“It was more of a family affair and that is why you always have to rely on God in whatever you do. Today marked 11 months since Jonique went on to be with the Lord. So to God be the glory for what he has done.”

#Ida Poitier and a host of her members from the 112-year-old Alpha Kappa Sorority Inc., an organisation that Jonique Webb was involved in, showed up and provided some tips to the participants of the camp.

#“I love what Terrance McSweeney is doing with the programme,” Poitier said. “Because of COVID- 19, we were unable to do what we really wanted to do. “But as soon as it’s over, we will jump in and assist him with this programme because we believed in Jonique Webb and the success and contribution that she had in sports.”

#AKA presented a plaque on behalf of Webb to Jasmine Roker for her outstanding performance as a participant and team leader in the camp.

#Many people were of the view that Roker resembled Webb in all aspects, although the St John’s College 12th grader admitted that she never met her, but heard about her accomplishment.

#“It was a surprise, but I feel honoured and I want to thank the people who selected me for this award,” Roker said. “I am going to use this as an encouragement to keep moving forward. I just hope this will inspire me to improve my game.”

#Roker, who is preparing to head to St Leo University next year on a basketball scholarship, said while she didn’t know or meet Webb, she’s pleased that the camp was held in her memory because of her story. “I understood that she was a dedicated and helpful person, so to be a part of this is awesome. It’s a good experience,” said the 16-year-old Roker, who plays on St John’s senior girls’ basketball team.

#Also on hand was the Baptist Sports Council, an organisation that Webb served as a secretary and a player with the Golden Gates Native Baptist Church.

#Chairman Brent Stubbs, along with vice chairman Joanne ‘Mother’ Webb and treasurer Olympian Evans, made some comments, reflecting on the life of Webb.

#The BSC also presented Maquel Hall, a 9th grader at St John’s College, with the Sportsmanship Award.

#The talented point guard on the junior girls’ team said she was really stunned when her name was called.

#“I was surprised when my name was called. I expected it to be either Jasmine or Raven or someone else,” she said. “I didn’t know Jonique, but I heard about her story. “She was a great person, so I am very glad that I got the award in her honour. I came here to better my skills in basketball and I’ve been able to develop my skills.”

#McSweeney said Ida Poitier, the president of the local chapter of the sorority, now celebrating its 112th anniversary, will be in attendance along with other sisters as they honour the life and memory of Webb on the basketball court.

#Shane Sweeting, a former physical education teacher and coach of the St Anne’s Blue Waves teams that played against Jordan Prince Williams teams, coached by McSweeney and featuring Webb, said she couldn’t miss this opportunity to participate in the event as well. “I didn’t just know about Red Eye. In the 1980s, we went to Bethune Cookman College, now university, and he lived with my little brother, so we were considered brothers,” Sweeting said. “So I saw the type of qualities that Red Eye had when he came home and he got into coaching, especially coaching girls. “Girls are very emotionally, very soft and you have to deal with them with a kit glove.”

#Deaconess Webb, who also serves as Jonique’s grandmother, said their family appreciates all that was done by McSweeney and Diamond Basketball, Poitier and the AKA and Stubbs and the BSC. “We know that it’s all for the betterment of other female basketball players or athletes, who want to follow in the fashion of Jonique,” said Webb, a former versatile athlete herself.

#“In being humble, you are lifted up, so we give God thanks for all of the things that have transpired and things that will come as we look toward the betterment of this country and sports in particular.”

#McSweeney said he will continue to keep the memory of Webb alive by hosting an event every year.

#Both AKA and the BSC have both pledged their support to assist the Diamond Basketball development programme in the future.

FROM LEFT: Cadin Walker shares a moment with Ed Armbrister; Serai Clarke receives her award from Julian Robinson, one of the coaches; Sponsor Julian Robinson and Ed Armbrister present Khadin Evans with his award.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#CADIN Walker, Serai Clarke and Khadin Evans shared the spotlight as the recipients of the most outstanding baseball and tennis Athletes of the Year at the Ed Armbrister Baseball and Southwest Tennis Clubs awards ceremony.

#The annual awards presentation took place on Saturday at the Fla-mingo Gardens Park to highlight the joint venture between Major Leaguer Ed Armbrister and ver-satile Mike Butler, who have been working hand-in-hand in shar-ing their expertise with aspiring young baseball and tennis players in the Carmichael Road area.

#The joint sporting bodies were limited in the sessions they were able to conduct this year, due to the restrictions imposed by the Competent Authority as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

#But Butler said despite the shutdown orders of all parks, he and his assistant Henry Manson, along with other team members, were able to organise some virtual training sessions to engage their participants.

#Saturday, however, they were able to stage the awards presen-tation with social distance with about 14 of their participants present.

#Ministry of Sports’ Athlete of the Year Sydney Clarke, a former member of the club now attending the University of Alabama at Bir-mingham, served as the Mistress of Ceremony for the affair. Also in attendance was former national squash champion Lester Cox, now a popular radio talk show host.

#According to Butler, the athletes were selected for the honours based on their deport-ment, academic performance and tournament results.

#“We evaluated those three cat-egories,” he said. “Those were our requirements in making our selection.”

#Walker, the top baseball prospect in the programme, was named the Ed Armbrister Baseball Player of the Year. He performed exceptionally at the Baseball Association’s National Championships in Grand Bahama last year and during the training camp over the first three months this year because COVID-19 halted sports.

#Academically, Butler said Walker improved tremendously and is an honour roll student at Anatol Rodgers where he is cur-rently in grade eight.

#Serai Clarke, the younger sister of Sydney, was awarded the Southwest Tennis Clubs Female Player of the Year, having won the doubles title in February in Grand Bahama.

#The 11-year-old was one of the runners-up as the Primary School Student of the Year year. Having graduated from TG Glover Primary School, she is now at Aquinas College where she has a 3.4 grade point average.

#Evans, 11, was named the Club’s Male Player of the year.

#He shines as a two-sport ath-lete, having started playing tennis, but just recently started playing baseball. He is an honour roll student at Gerald Cash Primary School.

#“He attends all of the sessions and participates in all of our tour-naments,” Butler said.

#“He won a title in the 12-and-under tennis tournament held earlier this year.”

#What is significant about all of the athletes is their ability to improve both athletically and academically.

#“Most of these kids come into our programme where they are below average or average,” Butler said. “All of them have blossomed into borderline or some of them have become perennial honour roll students.

#“So we know the programme is working because we see the results. All of these students are excelling, so that is our greatest accomplishment.”

#From the athletic standpoint, Butler said all of the participants started in their general tennis pro-gramme and they have expended their skills, so they move them into the national development programme.

#Butler thanked McDonalds, A+ Pest Control, Caribbean Bot-tling Company, Bahamas Waste Management, BreAnn Closet Foundation, the Rotary Club of Nassau, immediate past Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association presi-dent Darnette Weir and baseball/softball player Dwayne Dean for their sponsorship.

#While the Ed Armbrister Base-ball Club has been in existence for the past 10 years, the Southwest Tennis Club has been in operation for the past five years.

#Butler noted that they have already commenced registration for the 2021 calendar year for both baseball and tennis and he’s encouraging persons to call 544-8576 or 426-9966 for more information.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

JASMINE Roker at practice.

#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#WHEN Jasmine Roker joined his Diamond Bas-ketball Development Programme, coach Ter-rance McSweeney said he knew he could turn her speed as a soccer player into a prime time basketball player.

#From 2017 when she transferred from HO Nash to St John’s College, McSweeney has been work-ing with Roker, whom he nicknamed ‘Coffee,’ devel-oping her as a point guard. She also utilised her skills as a track athlete.

#Those combined skills have enabled Roker to secure an athletic scholar-ship to attend Saint Leo University, a NCAA Divi-sion II school where she will enrol in August, 2021.

#“I am very excited for this opportunity for Jasmine Roker, another participant in the Diamond Basketball Development year-round training programme just for girls,” McSweeney said.

#“I am expecting Jasmine to fit right into the Saint Leo University women’s basketball programme right away because Jasmine is a very quick learner.”

#In making her selection after she couldn’t travel for a site visit because of the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, Roker said she decided to settle on a school that was in close proximity to home and the warm climate.

#“Saint Leo really clicked on all of my checked boxes and although they are a division two programme, coach McSweeney always told us that there’s room for improvement,” Roker said.

#“So I’m not mad about that. I’m honoured by this opportunity.”

#When she does go, Roker hopes to study biology, but she’s eager to prove to the coaching staff why they selected her for the scholarship.

#“They are going to get my best,” Roker said.

#“This programme has helped me tremendously. Coach played a big role in my development as a player.

#“He always talks to us and lets us know that we have the talent and we’re capable of doing whatever we put our mind to. We just have to put in the work. I told myself that all the time.”

#Roker said she has gotten so much encourage-ment from being a part of the Diamond Basketball League programme that she could only go on to be successful.

#McSweeney said he is confident that Roker’s ath-leticism to play soccer and run track will complement and enhance her skills on the basketball court at Saint Leo. “Chances are Jasmine Roker could very well end up running track and or playing soccer for the uni-versity,” McSweeney said.

#“While attending my junior girls’ basketball team practice, I realised that Jas-mine had other potentials and talents to play basket-ball as well as run track and now it’s paying off,” he added.

#Now, only time will tell how well Jasmine succeeds at Saint Leo University in St. Leo, Florida.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

DAVID NESBITT

TAVARIO MILLER

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#WITH their respective teams in late season playoff races, David Nesbitt and Tavario Miller con-tinue to provide key contributions for their clubs as they conclude the regular season.

#Nesbitt has helped to lead Minas Belo Horizonte to a 10-1 record, second in Brazil’s Novo Basquete Brasil. Nesbitt finished with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists in a 96-92 win over third ranked Sao Paulo (10-2).

#He followed with 14 points (4-8 on three pointers) and eight rebounds in an 84-76 win over Pinheiros. After an opening night loss, Minas has reeled off 10 con-secutive wins to surge near the top of the standings. Just three games remain in the regular season.

#In his first year with the club, Nesbitt is averaging 13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The veteran for-ward is shooting 61 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range.

#Nesbitt came off the bench in the aforementioned season debut, a 102-68 loss to Flamengo, but since his move into the starting lineup the team has thrived. In his first start, he followed with a double double – 16 points and 11 rebounds – in a 76-54 win over Pato Basquete to begin the win-ning streak.

#This season with Minas marks Nesbitt’s third club in as many years in the NBB. He has also won two league championships during his tenure.

#He spent the 2019-20 season with Sport Club Corinthians Pau-lista. In 26 games he averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and one steal per game.

#Over the course of the season, Nesbitt was voted to Latinbasket. com’s Brazilian League All-Imports Team and League Player of the Week on two separate occa-sions. In the 2018-19 season, he played 37 games for Flamengo and averaged 7.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in just over 17 minutes per game.

#Miller and the second-placed Boca Juniors in Argentina’s Liga Nacional de Básquet (9-5) was edged 74-72 on the road by the much lower-ranked Libertad Sun-chales (6-11) in the South group. Miller was the top scorer with 15 points (9-9 from the free throw line) and also grabbed seven rebounds in 21 minutes.

#Just two games remain in the regular season and Boca Jun-iors’ next matchup is with 10-8 Olimpico.

#In 12 games thus far, Miller is averaging 13.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He is shoot-ing 54 percent from the field, 33 percent from three and 70 percent from the free throw line.

#Miller was an early-season acquisition for Boca Juniors and has had an immediate impact with his new club. He debuted with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a 76-60 win over Ferro just one day after signing with Boca Juniors.

#This season marks Miller’s second in Argentina.

#Last season, he played with Quimsa Santiago del Estero and in 21 games he averaged 10.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He played an integral role in Quimsa winning the league’s pennant and finishing as the run-ners-up in the final.

#Travis Munnings and Shaquille Cleare helped bring an end to a three-game losing streak for UD Oliveirense in Portugal’s Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol (LPB).

#Munnings finished with 14 points and six rebounds, and Cleare, in just his second game with the club, added four points and three rebounds in just 13 minutes.

#UD Oliveirense improved to 7-4 on the season.

#Cleare made his debut last week and finished with eight points in just 16 minutes of a 90-74 loss to Benefica.

#On the season, Munnings has emerged as a team leader, averag-ing 12.4 points, a team leading 8.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

As of Friday, September 7, 2018

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#IT was a disappointing start to the postseason for Lucius Fox and Chavez Young as both of their respective clubs suffered game one losses in their first round series.

#Both players went 0-4 at the plate as their teams now face must-win situations in an attempt to stave off elimination.

#Game two in both series took place last night, however results were unavailable up to press time.

#Fox and the Montgomery Biscuits suffered a walk-off 4-3 loss in 10 innings to the Jackson Generals in game one of the Double-A Southern League North Division series.

#Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Biscuits had a 3-2 lead but surrendered an RBI single and a walk off walk to conclude the road loss at The Ballpark at Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi.

#In the Single A-Advanced Midwest League, Young and his Lansing Lugnuts also trail in the series after a 10-inning loss at Cooley Law School Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

#The Bowling Green Hot Rods emerged with a 4-3 win in a game that took just over three hours to complete and included a pair of rain delays.

#The Lugnuts had previously rallied from 1-0 and 3-1 deficits, but were unable to rally in the bottom of the 10th inning.

#The series now shifts to Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for game two and a possible game three in the best-of-three series.

#The Hot Rods need one more win to move into the Eastern Division Finals against the winner of Great Lakes/West Michigan.

#Jazz Chisholm and his Visalia Rawhide will also begin their playoffs in the Single A-Advanced league this week. They will host the first home playoff game tonight against the Stockton Ports.