The Louisiana State University Crucian, Billy Bohlke, became the new king of the annual Three Kings Mile Road Race held on Saturday.
The small but competitive field of runners posed little challenge for Bohlke, as he took a slight lead over defending champion Lawrence Lockhart at the 400-meter mark in 54 seconds. Lockhart was right on his heels in 56 seconds. At the half way mark, which was the start of the Children’s Race on Friday, the two runners pulled even in 1 minute 59 seconds.
They passed St. John's Church into Times Square in front of a cheering crowd where Bohlke made his move and put some distance between the two on to the finish. Lockhart was second in 4:29.13; veteran and John Woodson Jr. High School teacher Greg Johnson was strong in third with a 4:56.07; Amalee Lockhart was fourth in 5:09.92; John McEnroe (not that John McEnroe, but a cousin) was fifth in 5:38.58 and Ronald Russell, president of the Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation was sixth in 6:30.95.
For the first time ever there was a tie for first place in the female Three Kings Mile. Sherma Aurelien of the St. Croix Educational Complex and Jawana Goodwin of the St. Croix Track Club ran a dead heat in 5:50.27; J'Kiwa Goodwin was second in 6:34.58.
The next event on the Virgin Islands Pace schedule is the annual Martin Luther King Fort-Fort-Memorial 25k run on Jan. 15. The date has changed from the traditional Sunday for this year only at 6 a.m. from Fort Christiansvaern to Fort Frederik.
