UNIVERSITY of the Bahamas Mingoes athletes in action at Keiser University Flagship Invitational in West Palm Beach.
As of Tuesday, September 19, 2023
#THE University of The Bahamas cross country teams had to fight through a thunderstorm weather delay to have several improved individual performances at the Keiser University Flagship Invitational at the Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach.
#Lhevinne Joseph turned in the best performance across the teams and finished 50th out of 107 competitors in the men’s division with a time of 17 minutes 24.82 seconds in the 5km event.
#This was a more than a minute improvement over his previous cross country performance of 18:35.9 at Florida Atlantic University on September 1. The men’s team finished 9th out of 10 teams with 253 points and the women’s team finished 11th with 318 points.
#In the team event, the lower the score the better performance of the team.
#Jackson Ozias finished 80th in 18:47.57.
#Dennis Williamson finished in 83rd spot in 18:55.57.
#Kenold Jean finished 92nd in 19.26.0 and Donya Roberts, known more for the 400m event, took 101st spot in 21:22.73 – an almost one-minute improvement over his FAU meet performance (22:16.4).
#The top five runners from each team receive a score that counts toward the team performance.
#In cross country, the lower the score the better the performance. Both teams competed in the 5k.
#“Overall, it was great improvement with both teams,” head coach Ednal Rolle said. “Our top male Joseph ran a personal best by more than a minute and that was really fantastic for him being a middle-distance runner and moving over to the cross country.”
#On the women’s side, Lakeicia Lewis had the best performance for UB as she finished 91st out of 121 competitors with a 23: 31.85 which represents an almost two-minute improvement over the cross country meet three weeks ago (25:54.8 at Florida Atlantic University).
#Fridline Augustine took 111th spot in 26:22.42 – another two-minute improvement (28:46.9 at FAU meet); Sienna Mackey took 115th spot in 28.47.24 which is an almost four-minute improvement over 32:16.4 at the FAU meet. Kaiya Cambridge took 116th spot in 29.02.99 and Kendera Munroe was 118th in 30:21.8.
#“All of the women turned in personal bests for this meet,” coach Rolle said. “That shows that what we have been doing is paying off and helped them to improve.”
#The women’s team amassed 318 points to finish 11th. Both teams next compete in UB Cross Country meet at TAR National Stadium on September 30.