The Tribune

AS the NCAA Division I Track and Field Indoor season recommenced, several Bahamian athletes turned in nationally ranked performances in their first meets of 2020.

On the latest edition of the US Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association’s weekly rankings, Samson Colebrooke of the Purdue Boilermakers, Doneisha Anderson of the Florida Gators, Megan Moss of the Kentucky Wildcats and Jyles Etienne of the Indiana Hoosiers each were ranked in their respective events.

Anderson, the Gators’ sophomore sprinter, ran the rarely contested 300m and finished first in 37.17 seconds at Clemson’s Orange & Purple Elite Meet in South Carolina. Her time ranked second on the USTFCCCA weekly list and was just one tenth of a second shy of the 10th-fastest time in collegiate history. The 300m will not be contested at the SEC or NCAA Nationals.

Purdue head coach Norbert Elliot is one of two Bahamian head coaches at Division I programmes. He led his Boilermakers at the Gene Edmonds Memorial Invitational as they set or tied three top-10 marks in programme history, won 17 events and notched a total of 26 personal records.

“Overall, I was really pleased with our performance,” Elliot said. “We came in here a week early, and we’ve really only had five days to prepare and train, but amazingly, because of the work that we’ve done this past fall, we were able to see some really good performances. In fact, we had some personal-best performances, which is really unusually strange for this early in the season.”

Colebrooke, the Boilermakers’ senior sprinter, finished third in 6.79. His time was tied for No.22 last week across the nation.

Head coach Lonnie Green led his Kentucky Wildcats to a strong showing over the two days at the Jim Green Invitational, winning 10 events in total.

Moss finished second in the 400m in 53.67 and ninth in the 200m in 24.09. She was also a member of the 4x400m team in 3:41.41. Her 400m time was ranked second and her 200m time ranked third on the “Additional All Conditions Bests” lists.

Etienne finished second in the high jump for the Hoosiers at the Indiana vs. Tennessee Dual Meet. The men’s squad picked up a 64-58 victory over the Volunteers. He leapt 2.17m to rank No.8 in NCAA Division I for the week.