Over the years, the annual Virgin Islands Pace Runners’ St. Croix Metric Mile has become one of the transitional road races fit between the end of the cross-country season to the beginning of the V.I.’s track and field season. It is the shortest road race in the territory with the St. Croix Scenic 50 Mile being the longest, and it comes a week before the St. Croix International Marathon and the V.I. Half-Marathon; the three are V.I. championship events.
Junior runners Nayan Bansal and Dominic Pugliese of Good Hope Country Day School extended their cross-country rivalry as they took the early lead on the point-to-point Upper Love Road course, which is flat with only one turn. Kervin Mathern was in the mix with Randall Nielsen of the Superior Court, the lone non-junior runner in the hunt. Bansal held on to take first place with a time of 4:42; Pugliese was second in 4:48; Mathern was third in 4:54; Nielsen was fourth in 4:59 and Makari Mathew of St. Croix Track Club and Country Day School was fifth in 5:03.
Two sisters from the St. Croix Track Club, who are also V.I. cross-country champions, Mikaela Smith and Michelle Smith showed their talent as they were in the overall lead group early in the race. Mikaela prevailed to win the race for female runners and finished sixth overall with a time of 5:13; Michelle was second and seventh overall and first in the 13 and under group in 5:36; adult Jen Sterm was third in 6:06; Zeniyah Forde of Eulalie E. Rivera School was fourth in 6:23; J’Niequan Graham of ERRS was fifth in 6:32.
The V.I.Pace Runners was founded in 1978, and with its slogan: “Run for Fun…Run for Health…Run for Life…,” it has held runs on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix Campus in collaboration with UVI Cooperative Extension 4H Program. It is affiliated with the Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation (VITFF) and Road Runners Club of America. It plans and organizes some 30 events annually for children and adults of all fitness levels; it conducts V.I. Championship events for the VITFF, and it conducts fundraising for various V.I. charities. The next events on the V.I.Pace Runners calendar is the 15th St. Croix International Marathon, the 42nd Virgin Islands Half-Marathon and the St. Croix Marathon Relay on Sunday, Dec. 11.
For information logon to: http://virginislandspace.org/stxmarathon2016.html; call: 643-2557 or e-mail: wallacewilliams@msn.com
AWARD LIST FOR RACE The Annual St. Croix Metric Mile Road Race 1 Kilometer December 3, 2016 Upper Love St. Croix, Virgin Islands USA Organized by: The Virgin Islands Pace Runners Sanctioned by: Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation
********** MALE OVERALL RESULTS FOR 5K RACE ***********
1 NAYAN Bansal 15 GHCD 4:42
2 DOMINIC Puglese 15 GHCD 4:48
3 KERVIN Mathern 17 4:54
4 RANDAL Nielsen 49 Superior Court 4:59
5 MAKARI Matthew 13 St.Croix TC/GHC 5:03
6 SADER Etienne 15 HOUNDS & fOXES 6:06
7 MIKE Klein 51 Jolly Roger 6:23
8 ELIOENAI Etienne 7 Hounds & Foxes 6:33
9 ALEXANDER Etienne 8 Hounds & Foxes 7:03
10 TODAKIE Bassue 8 Eulalie Rivera 7:29
11 MAKEO Frederick 7 Hounds & Foxes 7:51
12 JIM John-Baptiste 44 8:06
13 WILLIE Lewis 58 Mary Fancy TC 9:21
********** FEMALE OVERALL RESULTS FOR 5K RACE ***********
1 MIKAELA Smith 15 St.Croix Track 5:13
2 MICHELLE Smith 10 St.Croix TC/ERR 5:36
3 JEN Sturm 33 6:06
4 ZAHNIYAH Forde 11 Eulalie Rivera 6:23
5 J’NIEGQUAN Graham 11 Eulalie Rivera 6:32
6 AKYRA Joseph 9 Eulalie Rivera 6:45
7 AMIYAH Eddy 9 Eulalie Rivera 7:20
8 KIRSTEN Jones 9 Hounds & Foxes 7:25
9 LAUREN Jones 8 Hounds & Foxes 8:05
10 JEMIAH John-Baptist 7 Eulalie Rivera 8:06
11 KATELYN Jones 6 Hounds & Foxes 9:03
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 10 – 13
1 7 MICHELLE Smith 5:36 10 St.Croix TC/ERRS 5:36
2 11 ZAHNIYAH Forde 6:23 11 Eulalie Rivera Sch 6:23
3 12 J’NIEGQUAN Graham 6:32 11 Eulalie Rivera Sch 6:32
MALE AGE GROUP: 10 – 13
1 5 MAKARI Matthew 5:03 13 St.Croix TC/GHCD 5:03
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 1 – 9
1 14 AKYRA Joseph 6:45 9 Eulalie Rivera SCh 6:45
2 16 AMIYAH Eddy 7:20 9 Eulalie Rivera Sch 7:20
3 17 KIRSTEN Jones 7:25 9 Hounds & Foxes TC 7:25
4 20 LAUREN Jones 8:05 8 Hounds & Foxes TC 8:05
5 21 JEMIAH John-Baptist 8:06 7 Eulalie Rivera Sch 8:06
6 23 KATELYN Jones 9:03 6 Hounds & Foxes TC 9:03
MALE AGE GROUP: 1 – 9
1 13 ELIOENAI Etienne 6:33 7 Hounds & Foxes TC 6:33
2 15 ALEXANDER Etienne 7:03 8 Hounds & Foxes TC 7:03
3 18 TODAKIE Bassue 7:29 8 Eulalie Rivera Sch 7:29
4 19 MAKEO Frederick 7:51 7 Hounds & Foxes TC 7:51
The Annual St. Croix Metric Mile Road Race 1 Kilometer December 3, 2016 Upper Love St. Croix, Virgin Islands USA Organized by: The Virgin Islands Pace Runners Sanctioned by: The Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation
Place —Name —Age —Sex —City —School/Club —-Time —-Pace
===== =================== === = =============== == ==========
1 NAYAN Bansal 15 M GHCD 4:42 5:03
2 DOMINIC Puglese 15 M GHCD 4:48 5:09
3 KERVIN Mathern 17 M 4:54 5:16
4 RANDAL Nielsen 49 M Superior Court 4:59 5:21
5 MAKARI MatheW 13 M St.Croix TC/GHC 5:03 5:26
6 MIKAELA Smith 15 F St.Croix Track 5:13 5:36
7 MICHELLE Smith 10 F St.Croix TC/ERR 5:36 6:01
8 SADER Etienne 15 M HOUNDS & FOXES 6:06 6:33
9 JEN Sturm 33 F 6:06 6:33
10 MIKE Klein 51 M Jolly Roger 6:23 6:51
11 ZAHNIYAH Forde
11 F Eulalie Rivera 6:23 6:51
12 J’NIEGQUAN Graham 11 F Eulalie Rivera 6:32 7:01
13 ELIOENAI Etienne 7 M Hounds & Foxes 6:33 7:02
14 AKYRA Joseph 9 F Eulalie Rivera 6:45 7:15
15 ALEXANDER Etienne 8 M Hounds & Foxes 7:03 7:34
16 amiyah Eddy 9 F Eulalie Rivera 7:20 7:53
17 KIRSTEN Jones 9 F Hounds & Foxes 7:25 7:58
18 TODAKIE Bassue 8 M Eulalie Rivera 7:29 8:02
19 MAKEO Frederick 7 M Hounds & Foxes 7:51 8:26
20 LAUREN Jones 8 F Hounds & Foxes 8:05 8:41
21 JEMIAH John-Baptist 7 F Eulalie Rivera 8:06 8:42
22 JIM John-Baptiste 44 M 8:06 8:42
23 KATELYN Jones 6 F Hounds & Foxes 9:03 9:43
24 WILLIE Lewis 58 M Mary Fancy TC 9:21 10:02
