President of the newly elected executive of the Saint Lucia Athletic Association, Cornelius Breen is happy despite the uncertainties affecting track and field locally, regionally and internationally, as a result of the coronavirus.
Making him happy is the progress made by Saint Lucia athletes attending University in the USA. The SLAA has created the first Newsletter/ magazine in 42 years, since it was founded in 1979.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic hindering our operations throughout the past year, we have been unable to take to the tracks to show off the talents of our athletes and the expertise of our coaches and technical officials. But we have hope! We are hopeful that we will be on the field and on the tracks soon,” Breen said.
The SLAA Chief took the time to acknowledge the following individuals who created the first edition of the SLAA Newsletter/ magazine, namely Makeba Alcide, Dora Henry, Nikela Khodra and Adagio Green.
Breen encouraged all the athletes under his watch to remain safe and to follow the COVID-19 protocols that are in place.
Mechaela Hyacinth, competing for Azusa Pacific University came out on top this past season earning ‘All-Region Honours for the 2020, 60 metres dash NCAA Division 2 indoor track and field season. The NCAA has stated that to earn All-Region Honours, an athlete must be one of the top 5 individuals in their event and respective region.
In addition to that, each member of a region’s top-3 relay team was selected for this distinction. Hyacinth is currently pursuing her degree in Kinesiology at APU where she continues to make her name known in track and field.
On Friday, 29 January, Armani Modeste also competed at the Washburn Open for Lindenwood winning Heat No.7 of the 400 metres, running 49.21 seconds to finish 9th place overall.
The following day he also won Heat No.8 of the 200 metres running 22.04 seconds to finish 10th overall. Both times are college best for Armani.
Micky Ferdinand, a Mon Repos athlete, on January 29th-30th 2021 jumped 4.61 metres to finish 7th in the men’s Pole vault and 1.94 metres to finish 2nd in the men’s High jump. Micky is currently ranked 2nd nationally in the high jump and 15th nationally in the pole vault.
Delan Edwin, a transfer student from Southwest Baptiste University now competiting for Texas A&M- Commerce ran 6.90 seconds to finish 3rd in Heat No. 8 of the men’s 60 metres (7th overall) on Friday 29th; and 21.87 seconds to finish 2nd in Heat No.16 of the 200 metres (7th overall).
On January 30th, 2021 Ruben Nichols finished 2nd in Heat 2 of the Men’s 400 metres in a time of 50.45 seconds at the Wendy’s/PSU MIAA Challenge. Ruben is a recent graduate of Kingston College in Jamaica and a former member of Morne Stars Track and Field Club (Saint Lucia).
Kevin Norville, a senior at Washburn University competed unattached finishing 2nd in the men’s indoor Triple Jump at a best of 14.88 metres, his previous best 14.77 metres.
Eldon Phillip, currently a Junior at Virginia Tech, competed at the Virginia Tech Invitational, running 2 minutes 33.74 seconds to finish 6th in the 1000 metres. At the Hokie Invitational on January 22nd 2021, he came 5th in the 600 metres, running a time of 1 minute 21.37 seconds.
The Coppin State Trio: the VMI Team-Challenge put on quite a show. Coming out of Coppin state University is mid-distance athlete and sophomore Kamillah Monroque, sprint athlete and sophomore Kimani Alphonse and sprint athlete and sophomore Jervonne Agard.
Kamillah Monroque finished 3rd in the women’s 800 metres running 2 minutes 21.71 seconds, while Kimani Alphonse finished 2nd overall in the women’s 400 metres with a time of 57.36 seconds and Jervonne Agard finished 14th in the men’s 400 metres in a time of 52.07 seconds.