By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

CROSS country season is in full swing and the University of The Bahamas (UB) is preparing to host the third edition of their cross country invitational starting at 7am on September 28. 

The event is set to feature competitors in seven divisions across three races next weekend at the brand new Thomas A Robinson National Stadium grounds.

Competitors in the under-17, under-20 and open divisions will compete in the 3k race. 

Competing in the 2k race will be the under-13 and under-15 age groups. The under-9 and under-11 athletes will get their chance to shine in the 1k race.

Ednal Rolle, event organiser and head coach for the UB track and field team, is anticipating participation numbers to increase once again for the third edition of the cross country meet.

“It has grown over the last three years. We saw a major increase in participation from 580 the first year to 800 last year. 

“We are looking for an even bigger number this year. This year we anticipate 900 to 1,000 participants coming on board,” he said.

The schedule will begin with the open male and female combined 3k race at 7am. The 3k events are scheduled to run from 7am until 8:28am.

The 2k race will follow this event, starting at 8:56am and continue until 9:56am. The final event starts 10:16am and wraps up at 11:16am. 

Prizes and medals will be distributed after events have concluded.

Coach Rolle outlined his expectations for UB’s cross country team.

“We have a strong team this year. We are looking to get under that top 10 position. Cross country is a challenging one for us but we are looking to be in the top 10 and if we want to be ambitious we want to be top one.

“We want to venture out to try to get better distance runners. We are in the process of doing that so we have a lot of things in place to strengthen our cross country team…We intend to be stronger in the years to come,” he said.

The Hurry Murray Club had a strong showing at last year’s cross country invitational. The club won numerous divisions including the under-20 boys, under-17 boys, under-15 girls, under-13 girls and under-9 boys divisions.

The CR Walker Knights claimed gold in the under-20 girls division. The Government High School Magic prevailed in the under-17 girls category.

The CH Reeves Raptors picked up wins in the under-15 boys and under-13 boys divisions. Meanwhile, X-Treme Athletics won the under-11 girls and boys and under-9 girls divisions.