FOR the 18th consecutive year, president/head coach Dexter Bodie and his executive team took the time out to honour the accomplishments of their Roadrunners Track and Field Club at their gala awards banquet.

The massive presentation, held under the theme: ‘Climbing the Ladder of Success through Determination, Responsibility, Enthusiasm, Accountability and Dedication,’ recognised the athletes for their athletic and academic achievements for this year.

In the ballroom of the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island, Olympian Iram Lewis congratulated the club for its stickability in honouring the athletes and he urged them to continue to carry out the mandate that has become the hallmark of the occasion.

In his remarks, Lewis brought home the importance of the athletes climbing the ladder of success, as outlined in their theme, noting that there were many athletes such as Sir Durward ‘Sea Wolf’ Knowles in sailing, Elisha Obed in boxing, Thomas A Robinson in track and field and Mychal ‘Sweet Bells’ Thompson in basketball, who paved the way.

“It didn’t just start with the ‘Golden Girls’ or the ‘Golden Knights’ or any of today’s modern athletic heroes,” he stressed.

He mentioned that on their shoulders rest the future stars who will emerge out of the Roadrunners Club to become the next superstars in the future.

“Continue coach Bodie and your fine executive team to work with the athletes,” stated Lewis, who predicted that the next Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown, Carl Oliver and even Iram Lewis is right in the Roadrunners Club.

Both Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ president Rosamunde Carey and Bahamas Parents Association of Track and Field Athletes Harrison Petty also praised Bodie and the club for the tremendous accomplishments they have achieved with their athletes.

Carey, highlighting how she participated in both a half marathon in Orlando, Florida, and a full marathon in Paris, France, encouraged the athletes to never give up.

She emphasized the importance of the athletes ensuring that they put their best foot forward in getting to represent the country when the CARIFTA Games are held here during the Easter holiday.

And when it’s all said and done, Petty said there’s no greater feeling for an athlete than to be able to secure an athletic scholarship and his association will continue to work with the Roadrunners and the other clubs to ensure that they get as many student/athletes off to school.

Lewis, the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works, and his wife were joined by fellow Olympian Carl Oliver, Carey, Petty and his wife, parent David Higgins, sponsor Phil Smith and sponsor William Delancy and his wife, in making the presentations to the athletes.

Two of the top awards presented were the Athletes of the Year and the Dominique Higgins Awards for the most outstanding student-athletes.

Winners of the Dominique Higgins Awards received their trophies from David Higgins, father of Dominique Higgins, who was the first athlete in the club to be recognised for their achievement of a 4.0 grade point average.

This year’s recipients were Noel James, Rolando Thompson, Leonard Taylor and Jasmine Thompson, all earning 4-0 GPAs.

Phil Smith, representing d’Albenas Agency, one of the major sponsors, presented the Athletes of the Year awards. The recipients were as follows:

Girls

Under 8 – Takash Seymour; under-10 – J’Kaiyah Rolle; under-12 – Ta-Mia Taylor; under-14 – Sherinique Sears; under-16 – Rowlia Joseph and under-18 – Esther Cartwright.

Boys

Under-8 – Rolando Thompson; under-12 – Darius Pratt; under-14 – Daniel Ermilus and Malcolm Williams; under-16 – Anton Pratt and Avery Adderley; under-18 – Michael Adderley and under-20 Gabriel Williams.

Although she was one of the most impressive athletes this year, Ta-Mia Taylor said she was still surprised that she received the awards that she got.

“I feel good and I’m very excited about the awards that I got. I think it was a great achievement for me,” said Taylor, a 10-year-old student of Pace Christian Academy, who competes in events from the 200-800 metres.

“I was very surprised with all of the awards that I got.”

It was no surprise for Esther Cartwright, who will be entering her final year as a high school student as a repeat Athlete of the Year.

“I will miss it. Over the years, it’s been a great experience,” said Cartwright, an 18-year-old 12th grader at RM Bailey, who has been the club’s most dominant female sprinter.

“I was pleased with my performance and how I was able to balance my track with my academics, so I was really proud of myself. I will do my best this year to try and get a scholarship. So I have to give it my all this year.”

For Daniel Ermilus, he didn’t mind sharing the podium with Malcolm Williams.

“I feel fine about all of the awards that I got, but I felt I could have done better overall to get more awards than I got,” said the 12-year-old HO Nash grade eight sprinter.

“Next year, I’m looking forward to having a much better season and hopefully making the CARIFTA team. That is my main goal right now.”

Bodie said he was very happy with the way things turned out, despite the fact that they got off to a late start and ended up finishing close to midnight.

“We had a sold out atmosphere and so I just want to say thank you to our sponsors because without them, this would not have been possible,” he said.

“There were a lot of surprises, but God is good. We hope next year, it will be bigger and better, but shorter. We just want to take this time to tell the athletes to continue to press forward, not just on the track, but in their school work.”

Once again, comedian David Wallace flew in from Grand Bahama to serve as the co-master of ceremonies with Roadrunners’ assistant coach/secretary Mildred Adderley, whose two sons Avery and Michael Adderley were on the honours list.

A number of parents were also singled out for their contribution to the club and sponsors Smith, Petty and Delancy were also honoured for their tremendous support of the Roadrunners.