SPORTS SECTION E
New Year
Agenda, Page 3
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2018
Top hurdler Pedrya has new coach for final college season By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
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ack in action from an injury that prevented her from competing outdoors last year, women’s 100m hurdles national record holder Pedrya Seymour will resume her final season as a collegiate under a new coach and a new school. The 22-year-old graduate of St Anne’s High School will be wearing a University of Texas at Austin’s Longhorns uniform after graduating from the University of Illinois last year and will be coached by one of her idols who competed for the Fighting Illini. As a result of sitting out the outdoor season last year due to a hamstring injury to her trail left leg, Seymour said she had plenty of time to contemplate the future and she’s eager to see what the new year brings under assistant coach Tonya Buford-Bailey, one of the most decorated track student-athletes in the history of the University of Illinois where she was inducted into their inaugural class of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame in June. “You can look for the return of the beast,” said Seymour of a nickname that she had acquired during her tenure at Illinois where she performed exceptionally well. “Going into the season, I am going
FLOWERS: ‘WE GREW UP, NOT JUST AS FRIENDS, BUT AS FAMILY’
to be open minded and ready. I’m just going to take it one meet at a time.” The season opener for the Longhorns is the Texas Tech Corky Classic in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday, January 13. But Seymour is not sure whether or not coach Buford-Bailey will let her compete or if she will wait until another meet. In any event, Seymour said she will be ready because she has some personal goals that she wants to achieve, even though she declined to reveal any of them. Seymour, however, has indicated that she plans to represent the Bahamas at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England, March 2-4, although it comes smack in the middle of the Big 12 Conference Championships, February 23-24 in Ames, Iowa and the NCAA Indoor Championships, March 9-10 in College Station, Texas. “That’s the plan for now, but if the schedule doesn’t allow it, then I won’t be able to compete at the World Indoors,” said Seymour, who last represented the Bahamas at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she had an impressive sixth place in the final of the women’s 100m hurdles. “But it’s not the agenda.” And while she would also like to compete at the
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By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
Brown, having ran a lifetime best of 45.58 in Sopot, has not missed a trip indoors and he indicated that it’s because of the tremendous success he has accomplished on the 200m track where he has to run two laps to complete the race. “I think my body is designed to the tight curve on the track and I enjoyed being out there running indoors,” he stated. “It’s just a special place indoors, so I enjoy running in it.” For this one, which is expected to be the final one for the 39-yearold veteran, the goal is to once again get on the podium. “As long as I’m healthy, I just want to continue representing the country and giving it my best shot,” he insisted. “Whether I get on the podium or I don’t get on the podium, I just want to go out there and continue to represent the country.
BUSINESSMAN and golfer Craig Flowers has called this one of the most difficult periods of his life, having lost his childhood friend and sporting legend Prince ‘Zorro’ Stubbs on Christmas Eve. Stubbs, 80, died at the Princess Margaret Hospital as a result of a stomach cancer. “I had the fortunate acquaintance of knowing this young man, who at the time, was not Zorro,” said Flowers about their connection at the age of 13 growing up on two separate corners. “We grew up, not just as friends, but as family. Neither of us had a mother growing up. Prince lived with his aunt in Ross Corner and I lived my dad in Quakoo Street, then known as Laid Street. That made us bond even closer together.” Reflecting on their journey through life, Flowers said he got attached to Stubbs through his association with Flowers’ older brother, Arnold. During those days they were able to frequent Flowers’ father’s restaurant, bar and pool parlour where everybody was attracted to the game of billiards or pool. “The thing I remembered was Prince was allowed to go in and play pool, but I wasn’t because I was a little too young,” Flowers recalled. “He would tell me how good he was and sure enough, he became one of the most dominant pool players in the country. “He played on several tournaments in the pool parlour. I eventually got to travel with Prince and another dear friend Ivan James, who got the permission from my father, like Prince, for me to travel with. Ivan’s credentials were his father was the Rev CB James on Market Street.” At the time they were growing up as a foursome, Flowers said they all got their nicknames as they travelled to the various tournaments around the island, dressing up and walking alike, not just playing sports, but participating in stakes and kite flying competitions. The late James, according to Flowers, was responsible for coining Stubbs’ nickname ‘Zorro’ after the
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ON FAST TRACK: Pedrya Seymour, the national record holder in 100m hurdles, is expected to resume her final season as a collegiate at a new school under a new coach.
‘Fireman’ getting ready for indoor season By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net AFTER deciding to skip the remainder of the outdoor season, including the 16th IAAF World Championships last year, quartermiler Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown is preparing to return to the indoor season where he’s had a great deal of success. Undoubtedly, the most decorated Bahamian athlete indoors, Brown has made the podium five out of the past eight trips he’s made to the International Amateur Athletic Federation’s World Indoor Championships since he started competing at the 9th edition in 2003 in Birmingham, England. With the World Indoors going back to Birmingham, England from March 2-4, Brown will be hoping to make his ninth appearance and add to the three bronze, a silver and a gold he has on his
medal trophy case. “Right now I’m just taking it day by day. The body is in great shape and so I’m going to prepare and get ready for this indoor season,” said Brown in an interview with The Tribune from his home in Atlanta, Georgia. Since he started competing indoors in 2002, ironically in Birmingham, England, Brown claimed his first medal when he secured the bronze in the men’s 400 metres until 2006 in Moscow, Russia where the championships were moved to being staged every two years. The Whymms Bight, Eleuthera native would duplicate that feat two years later in Valencia, Spain in 2008 at the 12th Worlds before he emerged as the champion in Doha, Kota at the 13th Worlds in 2010. At the 14th Worlds in Istanbul in 2012, Brown again got on the podium, but this time had to settle for another bronze medal.
CHRIS BROWN However, in 2016 at the 15th Worlds, he improved on his previous performance as he picked up the silver medal in Sopot, Poland in 2016.
Mavin Saunders named to Allstate AFCA Good Works Team By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net MAVIN Saunders, the highly acclaimed redshirt junior tight end from the Florida State Seminoles, was awarded on Monday night as he was named to Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.
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Saunders, a native of Bimini who was recruited by the Frank Rutherford Foundation in Houston, Texas, to play basketball, but made the transition to football, was named the Riley Elementary Outstanding Adult Volunteer of the Year for his work with the local Tallahassee school. He received his honour, along with 10 other FBS players during halftime of the 2018 Sugar Bowl game in the Superdome in New Orleans where the Alabama Crimson Tide routed the Clemson Tigers 24-6 to advance to the College Football Playoff National Championships. “It’s a great honour,” said Saunders on Florida State’s website. “I was moved by it from the beginning, so I decided to keep coming back and showing these guys the commitment.” Referring to one of the youngsters that he’s been mentoring, Saunders said at the beginning, he
MAVIN SAUNDERS was so shy, but he’s seen a drastic improvement as he worked with him. He said it was important for him to work with the youngsters so that they can become better people in life.
Saunders, who will be transferring to play for the Kansas Jayhawks in the fall, began volunteering his services with Riley Elementary for class credit, but has now worked with the students for nearly two years, fitting in time around his football and school requirements. In addition to Saunders’ work with Riley Elementary, he was named to the ACC Academic Honour Roll for a second time this year. This is the second consecutive year that a Seminole has been named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. Last year, centre Alec Eberle earned the honour for his work with Uplifting Athletes and head coach Jimbo Fisher’s Kidz1stFund. Saunders is the sixth Seminole to earn the distinction, joining Corey Fuller (1994), Wayne Messum (1995), Sam Cowart (1996), Christian Ponder (2010) and Eberle (2016).
The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team recognises incredible stories of selflessness and community service and honours their dedication to volunteerism and enriching the lives of others. In addition to going to New Orleans, Allstate will honour the Good Works Team players by creating special volunteer events in select markets throughout the season in conjunction with its All Hands In programme, which encourages the college football community to come together and do good. Saunders was rated a fourstar prospect in the 2014 class by 247Sports, ESPN and Scout, and a three-star recruit by Rival. He was also ranked the No. 3 tight end in the country and No. 23 player in Texas (No. 187 player overall) by 247Sports. Additionally, he was rated the No. 7 tight end and No.
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