The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WILLIAM ‘Knucklehead’ Johnson set a pace that he thought by now would have been surpassed by one of the past distance runners in the country.

On Saturday, Johnson got to watch some of the future distance runners participate in the Silver Lightning Track Club’s third annual Cross Country Championships, held in his honour at the Bahamas Golf Federation’s Driving Range.

With his Bahamas national record of three minutes and 45.72 seconds set on May 17, 1983 in Austin, Texas still on the books, Johnson is hoping that one of the competitors will emerge as a potential heir to his mark.

“I think any number of athletes could have broken the record had they stayed long enough,” said Johnson, who went on to establish himself as a double CARIFTA Games’ medallist in the 1,500 and 3,000 metres in 1978 and 1979.

“The Curtis brothers (Mitchell and Gabriel) are looking good right now. Hopefully they can stay with it and go after the record. The distance is a little more difficult than the sprints. But they have the potential to do it.”

While he was delighted to see 17th IAAF World Championships’ gold medallist Steven Gardiner and silver medallists Shaunae Miller-Uibo and her husband, Maicel, on the sidelines interacting with the youngsters, Johnson said it turned out to be a good day.

“This is amazing, about 800 athletes competing, a lot of young athletes, so it speaks about the future of track and field in the country,” Johnson said. “I think the coaches and parents are doing a fantastic job because it has to be a partnership there.

“But I am just grateful to Rupert Gardiner and the Silver Lightning Club for thinking about holding this in my honour once again. It’s good to be here. It brings back a lot of memories being out here on the course.”

Mitchell Curtis came home from Orlando, Florida, where he is in high school, to compete in his first local cross country championship. The trip was very fruitful as he easily won the boys’ under-18 divisional title.

“The first loop, I think I did it very well, but the second loop was really tough,” Curtis said. “I guess the hills and the mud really got to me, but it was a very good showing.

“It was a lot of fun being out here and competing. It was so good to see so many young people competing in cross country because it’s not popular here. Me and my brother are trying to bring up cross country and distance running here, so it’s good to see so many people competing.”

Curtis hopes to be back next year to compete for the Bahamas at the C ARIFTA Games.

Last year, he won the under-18 boys’ 1,500m gold and bronze in the 3,000m. His brother was the silver medallist in the 5,000m and bronze in the 1,500m.

As a freshman at the University of the Bahamas, Elana Mackey is still playing tennis, but she has added running distance to her training repertoire and she’s holding her own.

The 17-year-old, who is studying bio-chemistry in her bid to become a doctor, was the fastest finisher in the female under-20 and open category. “Track and field helps you with your footwork because you could last longer in tennis on the court when it comes down to playing a third set,” she pointed out. “So I’m doing both I just started in August. This is my third or fourth meet and it’s been tough. This was a longer course than any of the other ones I’ve done. I know my limit and the time I should be making, so I knew how to pace myself.”

Simoya Blake, 16, won the under-18 girls’ divisional title for Doris Johnson High, although she sprained her right ankle on the second loop of her course.

“I finished very strong. It was good, but my ankle is still hurting,” said Blake, who competed in the cross country for the first time. “We had a track meet about two weeks ago and I came second in the under-20 division, so I’m very proud of my improvement.”

Nathan Duncan, one of the rising young stars, captured the under-16 boys’ title. The 15-year-old 11th grader at CV Bethel pulled off his eighth cross country in total.

“I feel really good because my competition was my good buddy Sawyer was in the race and I had to go with him if I really wanted to win,” he said.

“I trained hard. The competition was really good. He really made me run for the first lap. When we came around the second lap, I decided to go because I knew if it came close, he would out-sprint me.”

Brianna Kemp, winner of the girls’ under-14 title, said she did her best as she won the title for the third consecutive year.

“I felt I could have done even better than I did, even though I came first,” reflected the 13-year-old tenth grader at St Augustine’s College. “I just have to train harder than I am doing.

Race coordinator Rupert Gardiner expressed his gratitude to all of the participants, coaches, parents, schools and clubs for coming out and making the event a success.

“We had about 800 athletes and so it’s growing by leaps and bounds,” said Gardiner, who thanked Craig Flowers and the BGF for allowing them to use their facilities.

“We also want to thank the Ministry of Youth, Sports nd Culture, who came to our assistance, along with Metal Man and JS Johnson for the betterment of track and field in the country.”

The event will continue to be an annual one in honour of Johnson, according to Gardiner, his long-time friend and local rival on the track and in road racing.

The official results of the event were not available.