Medals for Track & Field Saint Lucians

With the collegiate outdoor season more than halfway through, national championships in the lower divisions and conference championships at the highest level in the coming weeks, several Saint Lucian student athletes were in action this weekend across the United States.

Competing for NCAA Division II Lincoln University at the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s Outdoor Championships, senior Mandela Clifford took two medals. At the Zola Witten Track in Fran Welch Stadium, Emporia, Kansas, Mandela joined Khorey Spalding, Ravel Grey and Joshua Manuel to win the 4x100m title. Grey ran 10.29 to lead a Lincoln sweep in the individual 100m, with Romel Lewis second in 10.39 and Saint Lucia’s Clifford third whilst recording the same time – a season-best 10.41 – as the man in fourth, Jeffrey Fraley of Missouri Southern.

Meanwhile, Rick Valcin was a National Junior Collegiate Athletics Association Region 6 champion in men’s Pole Vault. A second-year student at Cowley College, and competing at the Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson, Kansas, Rick cleared a height of 4.79m, 10cm beyond Lex Parsons of the home team, Hutchinson Community College. Rick has cleared 4.88m this season and has gone as high as 5.00m for his career.

Over at Sam Houston State in Texas, the Bearkats completed their final home meet of 2012 at Bowers Stadium. Among the eighteen top three finishes was triple jumper Karique Stephen, whose opening mark of 15.00m was enough to take home the title. Karique cleared 14.96m on his second trial and did not have another legal trial for the competition.

Three Saint Lucian ladies competed at the University of Arkansas’s Arkansas Twilight at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville. In a warmup for NCAA Division I conference championships, junior Makeba Alcide broke the line in the 100m Hurdles in 14.03 in the preliminaries and 14.21 in the final, finishing seventh overall. She also left a mark of 31.51m in the Javelin Throw. Pernell Joseph and Merica Moncherry helped guide Missouri State to second place in the 4x100m relay.

Teenager Jeannelle Scheper cleared 1.70m to take fifth in women’s High Jump at the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina. Next week, Jeannelle and Makeba will compete at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In her pet event, the women’s 400m Hurdles, Danai Lendor finished 10^th at the BIG EAST Championships at the USF Track Stadium in Tampa, Florida, two spots out of qualification. Danai is a senior at Rutgers University.