Douglas proud of young team’s display in Jamaica

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National track and field coach Troy Douglas has hailed Bermuda’s impressive showing at the NACAC Cross Country Championships in Jamaica at the weekend.

Bermuda’s junior men’s and women’s teams did themselves and the Island proud by placing fifth overall in the team event in their respective divisions.

The junior men competed on a 6K course while the junior women competed on a 4K racecourse in Mandeville.

Juma Mouchette (22:52) recorded the fastest time among the local junior men while Zakkiyah Showers (17:03) was the fastest among the junior women.

Also representing Bermuda at Saturday’s event was senior athletes Lamont Marshall and Tamika Williams.

Marshall placed 15th in the men’s 8K event in a time of 26 minutes and 34 seconds while Williams finished 18th competing in the women’s 6K.

Commenting on the team’s overall showing, Douglas said: “I’m really pleased with the performance and proud of the athletes for what they have accomplished.

“It’s a young team so there’s a lot of potential there so I’m really happy for the athletes who did an impressive job. This just goes to show that we really have talent.”

The former Olympic sprinter also praised the coaching staff that consisted of Jay Donawa, Mike Watson and Jarita Vickers.

“The coaches did a super job because they all came together to make sure these athletes learned how to run as a team,” Douglas said. “And they (junior athletes) achieved this by placing in the top five which is a really good showing.”

Douglas said he wasn’t surprised to see the team do well in Jamaica given the hard work the athletes had put in preparation for the event.

“I knew something special was going to happen based on the reports the coaches provided on training and how they had planned,” he added.

BNAA president Donna Watson also praised the team’s efforts in the Caribbean.

“I was pleased with the performances especially with the girls because this is the first time they’ve done a cross country team event and of course you have the powerhouses USA and Canada participating in all of the different age groups,” she said. “They represented themselves well and I was pleased to see Zakkiyah Showers was the first girl to come in because she’s usually the athlete that does 3000 metres at Carifta and the rest usually do 1500 and 800 so I was pleased to see that.

“Lamont and Tamika had a really good run as well so overall I’m pleased and we have to continue getting these athletes out there competing so they can get the feel for the competition.”

Accompanying team Bermuda at this year’s NACAC Cross Country Championships was head coach Donawa.

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