The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE 2019 Pepsi Florida Relays provided an opportunity for some of the country’s top athletes to display their skills as they prepare for the IAAF World Relays and the World Championships.

The three-day meet at the Percy Beard Track at the University of Florida saw four quarter-milers contesting the men’s 400 metre with Grand Bahamian Alonzo Russell coming out on top.

Competing in the first of 10 heats, Russell finished second in 45.53 seconds behind Anthony Zambrano of Columbia in 45.52. They took the top two spots overall.

Donovan Storr, a junior at Southeastern Louisiana, was 13th overall in heat six in 47.28. RK Athletics team-mates Ashley Riley (48.39) and Maverick Bowleg (48.51) were 28th and 29th respectively.

In a head-to-head match-up in the men’s 400m hurdles, Grand Bahamian Jeffery Gibson got a third place finish in 50.77 and was trailed by RK Athletics’ Andre Colebrook in 50.86 for fourth.

The men’s 4 x 400m produced some spark for the Bahamas as the Bahamas team of Ojay Ferguson, Teray Smith, Shavez Hart and Alonzo Russell clocked 3:07.24 for sixth place.

The RK Athletics’ team of Maverick Bowleg, Cliff Resias, Ashley Riley and Andre Colebook were eighth in 3:08.11.

Bernard Newbold, who coaches the newly formed RK Athletics’ team, said the meet showed that his guys “are in better shape with the exception of Alonzo.

“We still have a lot of work to do with nationals in July so we are taking it way. But we want to still be competitive and be able to have these guys represent the country with the other quarter-milers.”

Also at the meet was Olympian Shaunae Miller-Uibo. Representing Adidas on the Pure Athletics’ team, Miller-Uibo ran the third leg of their 4 x 200m relay team that took the tape in 1:29.25 ahead of second place Alabama, who did 1:31.80.

Katrina Seymour, who ran unattached in her professional debut, was fourth in the women’s 400m hurdles in 57.59. And Seymour teamed up with hurdler Devyenne Charlton on the women’s 4 x 100m relay.

Jenae Ambrose, a senior at Florida Atlantic, had to settle for 46th overall in the women’s 200m in 24.53. The event was won by Alabama’s junior Mauricia Prieto in 22.86.

Tamar Greene, a sophomore at Purdue, was 12th in the men’s triple jump with a best of 15.31m or 50-feet, 2-inches. The event was won by Clive Pullen of UAB with 16.67 (54-8 1/4).

Seymour Victorious

Competing at the 92nd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relay, Pedrya Seymour opened her 2019 pro debut as a Puma sponsored athlete on a winning note as she took the women’s 100m hurdles invitational in a photo finish in 13.10m ahead of Jasmine Camacho Quinn of Nike, who had to settle for second place.

Stubbs double dose of victory

At the 2019 Oral Roberts University Invite at the Oneok Sports Complex, Oral Roberts’ sophomore Kayvon Stubbs took the sprint double, winning the century in 11.97 well ahead of second place finisher Taryn Smiley, a senior at Missouri State, who did 12.04. Stubbs also won the half-lap race in 24.38 with Smiley second again in 214.89.

Sasha Wells, also a sophomore at Oral Roberts, was second in the women’s 100m hurdles in 13.85.

Gabrielle Gibson, a freshman at Oral Roberts, took the tape in 13.77.

Wells and Stubbs teamed up on the first and third legs respectively with Gabrielle Gibson on second and Christina Ollisopn on anchor as they ran 47.25 for the victory.

Bradley Dormeus, a freshman at Oral Roberts, was third in the men’s 400m in 49.08.

The winning time was 47.84 by Emmanuel Mwewa, a senior at Oral Roberts.

And Sethran Wells, a junior at Oral Roberts and brother of Sasha Wells, was 11th in the men’s 400m hurdles in 59.94. Henry Vessar, a senior at Tulsa, won in 53.57.