By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

They were separated at one point by Hurricane Dorian, but now fraternal twin sisters Cassie and Cassidra are back together and making the most of their collegiate experience as members of the Jacksonville Dolphins women’s track and field team.

At the ASUN Outdoor Championships over the weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, senior Cassie repeated as the 200 metres champion in 23.24 seconds and was the runner-up in the 100m in 11.47, while Cassidra, a junior, also repeated as the champion in the 400m in 53.28.

The 21-year-old daughters of Veronnette Thompson and the late Kristnor Thompson, are in different class levels, but are delighted just to be in each other’s company after they split up about two years ago as students of Tabernacle Baptist Academy in Grand Bahama.

“When Hurricane Dorian hit us, our school was affected really badly and I came to the United States to complete my senior year running track at Southlake High School in Florida,” Cassie said. 

“During that time, the recruiting started and the coaches started to express their interest in me coming to their schools. I accepted the offer at JU and within the first year, I led the way and opened the door for my sister to join me here.”

While she opted to wait in Grand Bahama and take a year off before school resumed in Grand Bahama, Cassidra eventually got the call after she graduated to join her sister at JU and the rest was history.

“Obviously, it’s the best feeling ever, especially with us competing at the next level together,” said Cassie, who will once again leave Cassidra behind after graduating two weeks ago.

“We are now achieving all of the goals we prayed for like being the first generation to actually go to college in our family and to have my twin sister right behind me is the best feeling ever.”

Cassie will be leaving with her degree in health science, while Cassidra will be back next year to complete her studies in accounting.

“It’s something special because Cassie makes it kind of hard for me to be second best,” Cassidra said. “She goes out there and she runs and it’s almost like you have to compete just as good.

“Overall, it’s amazing to know that we are sisters and she’s not just good. We’re actually both good in our events, even though we don’t get to compete against each other that often.”

When she joined Cassie, who had already established herself in the sprints at JU, Cassidra said the coach wanted her to run the 800, but that didn’t work out in her freshman year, so when they got in a new assistant coach, she was inspired to drop down to the 400m.

“In a year, the coach got me down to 53 seconds and it was history after that,” Cassidr said. “So it;s a blessing to have someone like your sister here with you in college.

“Coming into a new environment, in a new country and not knowing anybody or what to expect, she made the transition for me that much easier. So it was really a blessing.”

With their track season not quite done yet, Cassie said she’s pleased with the progress she’s made.

“It could have been a lot better, but I’m just thankful to be healthy and winning,” she said.v “It ain’t the best that I wanted it, but it’s been going great.

“This weeked, it was good. To come out with my second best times in both the 100 and 200m, I’m just thankful for it all.”

As the pacesetter for her sister, Cassie said it;s a great accomplishment because Cassidra can get to watch her and improve on the mistakes she made.

“We are actually doing what we love and accomplishing our dream is a great feeling,” said Cassie, who had a chance to lead by example during the indoors when they went head-to-head in the 200m with her claiming the gold, while Cassidra ended up with the bronze.

For Cassidra, her performance was a “valid” one, considering that she was recovering from a hamstring injury that pre=vented her from training for about a few weeks.

“I ran my personal best of 52 in the 400m and a week later I got the injury,” Cassidra recalled. “I sat out about two and a half weeks without practice.

“And so to come back and run my second fastest 400m ever, I would say my weekend went pretty well and it put me in a great position mentally going into the regional.”

Cassidra said she sent a great deal to coach Abner Saunders in Grand Bahama, who helped to keep her motivated when she and Cassie seperated for a year.

“When I didn’t know whether or not I would be going to college, he took the time out to take me through the practice sessions and made sure I got what I needed. He had the most faith in me.”

The sisters also gave a lot of credit to Tabernacle Baptist Academy, its principal Norris Bain, coach Nikito Johnson and the Golden Eagles track club, headed by Dereck Wells.

“They are doing extremely  well both of them. The program  is working well for them. They are progressing really well,” said Wells, who served as the head coach for the CARIFTA team this year in Trinidad & Tobago.

“They have really good work ethics and they are well coached. The coaches are doing extremely well with them. Cassidra comes home every chance she gets and puts in the extra work. I think they will do well  in the next round and in the future.”

Before they started competing in track and field around the 11th grade, the twins participated in just about every sport at Tabernacle Baptist Academy, including basketball, softball, soccer and volleyball.

They won numerous titles, but never made the CARIFTA or any national team, but they continued to press on and once Cassie opened the door in Florida, Cassidra followed suit.

Hopefully, as they continue to progress in the sport, the twin sisters would like nothing better than to hear their names called as members of both the Bahamas;’ World Championships and the Olympic teams in the future.