By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
Thanks to coach Bernard Newbold, there is a new Bahamian track and field connection in Harmount, Louisiana, and already they are making their presence felt in the opening of the outdoor season.
On Saturday at the Strawberry Relays at the Strawberry Stadium at the Southeastern Louisiana University, the newly formed RK Athletics saw Andre Colebrook turn in the fastest time so far this year to win the men’s 400 metre hurdles in 49.81 seconds.
In the process, Colebrook erased his own meet record of 51.10 that he ran last year and the facility mark of 50.03 that was established by American Josh Taylor in 2015.
Ashley Riley, running in the men’s 400m, had the fastest time in the last of three heats to post the fastest time overall to take the victory as well.
And Maverick Bowleg, running in the men’s 200m, had to settle for second place in the last of five heats for third place overall. His heat, incidentally, was won by Donovan Storr.
Storr, another Bahamian competing for Southeastern Louisiana, the alma mater of all three members of RK Athletics, won the heat in 21.57 for the fastest time overall. His team-mate Devin Dixon took heat four in 21.62 for second place overall.
And Storr ran the second leg on their men’s 4 x 100m relay team that won in 41.15. Newbold, who coaches the team that also includes Bahamian sprinter Cliff Resais and a few Americans, said the performances were what he anticipated for the trio of Bahamians in their outdoor debut.
Colebrook’s record run
“Andre Colebrook had a well-executed race from start to finish,” Newbold said. “He went over the barriers and didn’t hit any, so once he cleared the barriers as smoothly as he did, we knew it was going to be a sub-50 race.”
Colebrook, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on March 8, said it was a good race for him, although he just wanted to go out and drop the guantlet for the season.
“I want to take it one step at a time because I feel like this is my year and I suppose to run fast, so I just went in there with that momentum,” he said.
Colebrook, who also contests the 400m, said his goal this year is to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar in September and hopefully win a medal before he gets ready for the 2020 Olympic Games in Toyko, Japan. “I am going at it hard. The 400m hurdles is going to be my event, but I am going to run the 400m as well,” he said. “So look out for me in both events.”
As for the RK Athletics, Colebrook said they have all been putting in the work from the beginning of the year and everything is coming into place and they could be the group that everybody will have to watch out for.
“We could have three spots on the 4 x 4 (relay). I just want to let them know,” Colebrook said.
Riley triumph
“Ashley Riley executed very well through the first 300m. He wasn’t as strong as he needed to be at the end, but he led from start to finish and he really didn’t have anybody on him to push him to the line,” Newbold said.
Newbold said he anticipates that Riley will be challenged when he competes in his next meet at Lafayette in two weeks before they head to the Florida Relays.
“I actually opened up a little faster than I expected, but the race felt pretty good,” Riley said. “I know I was in shape based on my training, so I was happy with the end results despite the fact that it wasn’t a race with a lot of tough competitors.”
Riley, 23, said he expects to run fast, knocking off at least a full second off his time as the season progresses. “I feel good. I feel like we can and will do a lot of good things down here,” he stated. “We have a lot of guys training together and we all came from the same background, so we could push each other to another level.”
Bowleg third place
Although he didn’t run his event, 24-year-old Bowleg said it was all about having some fun in his opener. “We decided to open up in the 400m in another meet, so today was all about having some fun in the 200m,” he said. “So it was exciting, exciting to see what the season brings.”
As for RK Athletics, Bowleg said it’s amazing because they all went to SE Louisiana together and so the chemistry is there, especially when it comes to the relay. “So I expect great things from this year individually and as a group,” he said. “We will have a preview at the Florida Relays. Cliff is going to jump up and run the 4 x 4 with us, so it should be exciting.
“We’re having a lot of fun. With all of us being Bahamians, we can touch certain buttons and so we know how to joke around and when to get serious. So this is real nice.”
Newbold said the quartet will also get to compete in a sprint medley relay, so it will be interesting to see if Bowleg or Colebrook will end up running the 800m.
At the meet in Lafeyette, it’s anticipated that Bowleg will also compete in his first 400m, while Resais will make his debut in the men’s 100m.
