A small group of runners and walkers participated in the 13th Annual UVI/Queen Mary Highway 5K Run/Walk on Friday morning on a course that took them from the Sunshine Mall in Frederiksted to the St. Croix Campus of the University of the Virgin Islands. Malique Smith of the St. Croix Track Club repeated as the winner of the 3.1-mile race and was unchallenged. His time was 18.58. Smith, who is preparing for the CARIFTA Junior Track and Field Championships next month in Martinique, was looking forward to competing against the top Virgin Islands distance runner Juan Robles, but that wasn’t to be. Randall Nielsen was the second male with a time of 20:15 and Steve Horness was the third place male with a time of 20:30.
Briget Klein with Jolly Roger was the top female finisher and second overall in the race with a time of 19:40, and she too was unchallenged. Twelve year-old Mikaela Smith of the St. Croix Track Club was the second place female in 21:54 and just ahead of Theresa Harper, who finished third in 22:28.
Awards were presented to the top three male and female finishers and to the first UVI Female Student Nicola Charles; the first UVI Male Student, Thiago Sampaio; the first UVI Female Faculty, Olga Capriola; the first UVI Female, Alum Esther Sweeney; and the First UVI Male Alum, Steve Alexander
Notes:
1] The UVI/Queen Mary Highway 5K Walk/Run was on UVI Pride Day, which was being held in celebration of UVI Charter Month as a way to recognize UVI alumni and for the community to show support for the territory’s only institution of higher learning.
2] The event was supported by: St. Croix Rescue, EMS, The V.I. Police Department, UVI ROTC, Sunshine Mall, and the staff and faculty of UVI St. Croix
3] The event was sponsored by: Coca/Cola, Chef & Catering, Cost U Less and Plaza Extra
4] The event was sanctioned by: The Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation (VITFF) and organized by: The Virgin Islands Pace Runners.
Full results are available at: http://virginislandspace.org
The next event on the V.I. Pace Runners Calendar is the 32nd Annual National Library Week…Run To Your Library 5K on April 19.
For information, e-mail: wallacewilliams@msn.com
