Sports
Hundreds TurnOut for Marion's Mile
Marion Jones
Over 250 people turned out Saturday morningto run alongside Marion Jones, the world's most popular femaleathlete. Competitors ranged from ages 4 to 60 plus.
Jones chose to do a light jog alongsidefellow track stars Cydonie Mothersill, Kareem Streete-Thompsonand Chris Huffins, Olympic bronze medallist in the decathlon inSydney.
Mark Hydes was first to cross the finishline in 5:04, followed by David Esdaile a junior in 5:15 and thirdGlen Holding at 5.16. Many local youngsters also made it amongthe top ten runners namely Junior Hines, Roger Smith, WilliamBalderamos and Orantis Rankin.
First for the females was Lisa Hoptroffin 6:36 followed by youngster Opal Bodden in 6:53 and third wasWendy King in 6:54.
In the Walkers category Dalvin Ebanks wasfirst in 8.29, Warren Solomon second in 11:08 and Mark Frye wasthird in 15:51.
Top female walker was youngster Hailee Robinsonin 11:30 followed by Charmaine Robinson 11:42 and Diana Cole wasthird in 11:50.
National Coach Kenrick Williams said, "Ithas been a fantastic week and the mile was a great success. Itunderscores what we are trying to do in our junior programme inthe distance events, and as was seen from the results many youngsterswere among the top 10 finishers. Worthy of mention is 12-year-oldJunior Hines who placed sixth overall and Opal Bodden who placedsecond overall for the females. It was great having Marion Joneswith us in the Cayman Islands, she symbolises the essence of womenin the sport Track & Field, and we could not ask for a moregracious athlete and ambassador".
President of the Cayman Islands AthleticAssociation Bernie Bush said that the event was a big successfor the Association and its sponsors Caribbean Utilities Companyand Texaco Caribbean to whom he would like to say a special 'thankyou'. "It was indeed an honour and a pleasure to have MarionJones, Chris Huffins and our very own elite athletes Kareem Streete-Thompsonand Cydonie Mothersill in our midst," he said. Mr. Bush wouldalso like to thank the corporate sector, the various sectors ofthe Cayman Islands Government and the public for their generoussupport.