Bahamians compete at NAIA and NCAA DII Championships

Bahamian collegiate track and field athletes were busy at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II (DII) Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships this past weekend.

The NCAA DII Championships were held at the Grand Valley State University South Complex in Allendale, Michigan, May 27-29, while the NAIA Championships took place at the Mickey Miller Blackwell Complex in Gulf Shores, Alabama, May 26-28.

Competing in Allendale were the Minnesota State University at Mankato Mavericks’ Denisha Cartwright and West Texas A&M University Buffaloes’ Jahmaal Wilson.

In Gulf Shores, Life University Eagles’ Bria Sands, Wayland Baptist University Pioneers’ Coshan Campbell and Indiana Tech Warriors’ Antonishka Deveaux were in action.

Cartwright ran away with All-American honors in all her four of her events. She was brilliant in the 100 meters (m) hurdles where she finished third. The freshman clocked 13.58 seconds to earn first team All-American honors. Winning that race was Queens University of Charlotte Royals’ Melanie Welsing who crossed the finish line in 13.43 seconds.

In the 100m dash Cartwright placed eighth in the final in 12.04 seconds to earn first team All-American honors. Azusa Pacific University Cougars’ Mechaela Hyacinth ran away with the first place finish in that event in 11.67 seconds.

In the 200m final, Cartwright powered her way to finish seventh overall in 23.92 seconds. She picked up another first team All-American honor with that finish. Winning that event in 23.25 seconds was Northwest Missouri State Bearcats’ Hiba Mahgoub.

Cartwright’s fourth and final first team All-American honor came in the 4x100m relay. She and her teammates Makayla Jackson, Ja’Cey Simmons and Rose Cramer set a new school record of 44.87 seconds to place second. The quartet missed out on first place by a hundredth of a second as the host school snatched 

victory in 44.86 seconds.

This meet brought an end to the freshman’s impressive season. The Mavericks women finished 11th with 23 points.

Wilson was not as fortunate as Cartwright in his only event, the men’s 110m hurdles. The freshman clocked 14.83 seconds to finish with the 10th fastest time in the preliminaries. He did not advance to the final.

However, the Buffaloes men had their best finish at the championships in school history when they placed second overall with 55 points.

Sands was focused and determined as she scored 18 points out of the Eagles’ 29-point total. They finished 10th overall. Sands walked away with first, second and 11th place finishes.

She was crowned the NAIA National Champion in the long jump event. The senior soared off the board for a fair jump and landed 6.16m (20’ 2-1/2”) on her third attempt. It was a personal best for Sands, sister of Bahamian legendary triple jumper “Superman” Leevan Sands.

Sands held off Warriors’ duo Destiny Copeland and Carlie Turner who finished second and third respectively. Copeland recorded a jump of 6.10m (20’ 0-1/4”) and Turner popped a jump of 6m flat (19’ 8-1/4”).

Sands came close to winning the gold medal in the triple jump. She posted a leap of 12.51m (41’ 0-1/2”) to come away with the silver medal. She finished behind Marian University Knights’ Naomi Walters who jumped 12.55m (41’ 2-1/4”) to win the gold. Walters teammate Jai-Lyn Norwood finished third with a 12.49m (40’ 11-3/4”) leap.

In the high jump, Sands cleared 1.64m (5’ 4-1/2”) to place 11th.

Sands’ coach, Bahamian Dominic Demeritte, had his interim head coach tag removed on Monday. He was named the Director of Cross Country and Track after helping the women’s track and field team to an impressive indoor and outdoor season.

Campbell ran in one individual event – the 800m. She finished sixth overall after running a time of 2:14.62. Bethel University Pilots’ Emma Mott won that event with a time of 2:09.53.

Campbell helped lead the Pioneers 4x400m team to victory. She along with teammates Argyanna Bolton, Safia Bright and Raheema Westfall clocked 3:42.76. Finishing second was the Warriors who clocked 3:45.28. Securing third place was the Southeastern University Fire in 3:45.28.

The Pioneers women finished fourth overall at the meet with 39 points.

Deveaux helped her team, the Warriors, claim another national championship. They clinched the title before the meet was over, scoring a total of 84 points.

Deveaux posted a time of 24.65 seconds in the 200m preliminaries and was unable to qualify for the final.

In the 4x100m relay, Deveaux ran the final leg as they finished third overall with a time of 45.79 seconds. The William Carey University Crusaders won that relay after clocking 45.51 seconds. The Pioneers finished second after clocking 45.73 seconds.

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