Bahamian collegians hit the track

A few Bahamians were in action on the track and in the field as they made their 2021 season debuts for their respective National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI) and Division II (DII) schools at various locations across the United States of America this past weekend.

Bahamian sprinter Megan Moss was in action for the University of Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday at the McCravy Green Invitational at the Nutter Field House in Lexington, Kentucky. Moss opened her season with a second place finish in the women’s 400 meters (m) dash , clocking 53.65 seconds. Winning the race was her teammate Alexis Holmes with a time of 53.21 seconds. North Carolina A&T Aggies’ Sydni Townsend finished behind the Kentucky duo with a time of 56.34 seconds.

Moss, a sophomore, was also in action in the women’s 4x400m. She and her teammates, Abby Steiner, Dajour Miles and Holmes, dominated the competition on the way to a win with a time of 3:35.52. Finishing second was the Aggies who clocked 3:44.76. The Aggies’ other relay team finished third as they clocked 3:46.51.

Bahamians Jaida Knowles and Amber Taylor did not compete for the Wildcats at the meet.

The Wildcats next meet will be during a road trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Woo Pig Classic at the Randal Tyson Track Center. That meet is set for this coming Friday.

Daejah Moss was spectacular for the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Bison as she picked up victories in the women’s high jump and the triple jump events at the Bison Cup Classic. The meet was held at the Shelly Ellig Indoor Track and Field Facility in Fargo, North Dakota on Saturday.

The junior was able to set a new meet record in the high jump event when she cleared 1.78m (5’ 10”) on her second attempt at that height. It was the third-best mark in NDSU indoor history and she was half of an inch short off the school record set by Toni Tollefson in 2011. It was also a personal best clearance for Moss as her previous personal best height was 1.74m (5’ 8-1/2”).

Finishing second behind Moss was her teammate Bailey Cowling who jumped 1.75m (5’ 8-3/4”). Finishing third was Minnesota State University (MSU) at Moorhead Dragons’ Rachel Schumacher who cleared 1.65m (5’ 5”).

In the triple jump, Moss jumped 11.38m (37’ 4”) to win that event. She did that feat on her fifth attempt. Like the high jump, this was a personal best for her. Her previous personal best in this event was 10.88m (35’ 8-1/2”).

Finishing in second place was Jennifer Parent representing the University North Dakota Fighting Hawks. She reached a mark of 11.33m (37’ 2-1/4”). Finishing third was Moss’ teammate Grace Emineth, leaping 11.04m (36’ 2-3/4”).

Moss will compete at South Dakota State University’s Jim Emmerich Invitational on Saturday January 23. The meet will be held at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, South Dakota.

Also taking part at that meet on Saturday was Grand Bahama’s Shyrone Kemp. He opened the men’s long jump series with what turned out to be the winning jump of 7.08m (23’ 2-3/4”). The Minnesota State University at Moorhead Dragons jumper only fouled on one of his jumps, and jumped against NCAA DI jumpers despite being an NCAA DII athlete.

Kemp finished ahead of second place finisher Hunter Merkley who jumped for the Bison. Merkley jumped 6.79m (22’ 3-1/2”). Merkley’s teammate Dante White finished third after reaching a mark of 6.69m (21’ 11-1/2”).

Kemp also ran the men’s 60m dash where he clocked 7.23 seconds to finish with the fifth-best time. White won with the fastest time of 6.95 seconds.

Also at this meet for the Dragons were Bahamians Robynn Curry-Rolle, a freshman, and Kendrick Major, a sophomore. Curry-Rolle sprinted to the second-fastest time overall in the women’s 200m, winning her heat in 26.03 seconds. Finishing ahead of Curry-Rolle was the Bison’s Ansley Schug who ran a time of 25.91 seconds. Finishing third place was Jocelyn Dinius who ran unattached and clocked 26.15 seconds.

Major finished fourth in the men’s 400m when he clocked 51.39 seconds. Finishing first was the Bison’s Adrian Harris who ran 48.66 seconds to set a new meet record.

Next up for the Dragons will be the University of Mary’s (U-Mary) Marauders Indoor Track and Field Invite set for Saturday, January 23 at the U-Mary Fieldhouse and Wellness Center in Bismarck, North Dakota.

West Texas A&M Buffs’ sprinter Jahmaal Wilson locked up the fourth-fastest time in the nation in division two when he finished second in the men’s 60m hurdles with a time of 8.05 seconds at the Texas Tech Corky Classic at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas.

Wilson finished second behind his teammate Tyrin Lewis who ran 7.93 seconds. Finishing third was Texas Tech’s Cale Kassen as he clocked 8.15 seconds.

In action at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday, were Ohio State Buckeyes’ Adrian Curry and Tavonte Mott. Both competed in the men’s 60m dash. Curry finished fourth overall with a time of 6.87 seconds while Mott was eighth overall as he ran the race in 7.10 seconds. The race was won by the Indiana University Hoosiers’ Rikkoi Braithwaite with a meet record of 6.64 seconds.

It was also the start of the season for the University Purdue Boilermakers’ Head Coach Norbert Elliott, a Bahamian. Elliott and the Boilermakers competed at that same meet in Michigan. He was without the Bahamian trio at Purdue – Tamar Greene, Samson Colebrooke and Vinajah Adderley. Despite this, Elliott and his team won six events with three being among Purdue’s top-10 times. The Boilermakers also had two second place finishes. In addition, seven of the Boilermakers’ athletes set personal bests.

“I am really pleased with the performances our team,” Elliott said. “We took a relatively small group of athletes we thought could compete well and healthily after a long layoff, and they really performed well. It’s hard to achieve a personal best mark considering the long layoff, and we had several today, which was great to see. Overall, it was a good meet, we came out healthy and can resume training and see what next week has in store for us.”

Elliott and his team will be back on the track this coming Saturday at the Indiana University meet at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse in Bloomington, Indiana.

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