Several athletes of Caribbean descent, as well as others whose roots run deep in countries outside of the Caribbean region, all representing colleges and high schools in the US, added their blend of flavor and spice to the 106th annual running of the Millrose Games, held at the Armory in New York City, February 16, 2013.
Jillian Haynes of Barbados descent, whom we featured as a high school athlete in July 2010, is now a junior at the University of Albany in the state capital, added her touch with a decent first leg (24.7) in the College Women 4x200m relay and set the pace for her team’s victory with a new school and meet record of 1:39.09.
Coached by Jamaican and GC Foster graduate Junior Burnett, the University of Albany took the men’s edition with a quartet all linked to the Caribbean. Donald Williams, (Jam), Taariq Jones, (Jam), Winston McCormack, (Jam) and Jonathan Santana (Dom Rep) enriched the flavor with a superb run, romping home to victory in 1:29.70 – a school and meet record time.
The junior division was no less enticing as the high school athletes spiced up things even more with double wins by the girls from Medgar Evers College Prep High School (Brooklyn). The squad of Paige Thompson-Charles, (Grenada); Brenessa Thomas, (Guy/Trinidad &Tobago or T&T); Kadecia Beard (Guy) and JaNai Cameron (US) continued to show their dominance in New York City track and field by easily winning two relays. They took the 4x400m in a meet record of 3:47.29, shattering the old mark of 3:51.46 they set last year and the 4x200m in a new US # 1 time of 1:38.44. The teams are coach by the Caribbean duo of Nicola Martial, a Guyanese Olympian and Shaun Dietz, a son of Trelawny, the Jamaican parish that produces several of that country’s top sprinters.
Medgar Evers’ Boys 4x400m team of Nickino Allwood (Jam); Chadrick Martin (T&T); Semasa Oni and Adekunie Samuel (both of Nigeria) ran a spirited race to finish 3rd in 3:27.28 behind Boys and Girls High School, also of Brooklyn (3:25.01). The race was won by Samuel J. Tilden High School of Brooklyn, featuring Kyle Baptiste (T&T), 53.01; Dwayne Charles (Jam), 52.43; Kwasi Applewhite, (US) 49.91; and Benjamin Fairweather (Belize), 48.49. They treated the Armory crowd to some deft indoor running, as each athlete extended the lead he was given. Anchorman Fairweather stopped the clock at 3:23.63.
In the longer-races department, Sabrina Sutherland (Haiti) of Benjamin Cardozo continued her usual scintillating run in the mile (1600m) by posting 4:51.91 to destroy a strong invitational field of several top milers from other states in the US.
Jamaican Olympian Honored
The Millrose Games honored Jamaican Olympian and former middle distance runner Dr. Byron Dyce, by naming an event in his honor: the Byron Dyce College Men’s 4x800m. Dyce, who represented Jamaica at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics in the 800m and 1500m, is a retired professor of Mathematics at the Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida and a former track coach of more than 60 years. The Byron Dyce College Men 4x800m was won by Penn State University in 7:21.37, a new American record.