NAAA accolades for Quow, LucasSunday, January 3 2010
The accolades continue to pour in for World Championships bronze medallists Renny Quow and Josanne Lucas as both were named Senior Male and Female Athletes of the Year yesterday as the National Association of Athletic Administration (NAAA) held their annual awards at Crowne Plaza, Port-of-Spain. Both athletes hail from the sister isle and recently received the same honours at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee 2009 awards and it was no surprise that they repeated the feat at NAAA’s end-of-year function.
Quow earned bronze in a scintillating performance in the men’s 400m final at the World Championships, clocking 45.02 while Lucas became the first female athlete to cop a medal at a global event when she placed third in the women’s 400m hurdles final at the same meet in a new national record time of 53.20 seconds.
Interestingly, Lucas’ personal best in the 400m hurdles is faster than her time over 400m flat.
Lucas of Falcons club was the women’s track athlete of the year
Unsurprisingly, hurdler Jehue Gordon received the trophy for Junior Male Athlete of the Year after an age defying effort in the men’s 400m hurdles at the World Championships in Berlin.
Gordon, then 17 years old, just missed out on a medal, crossing the finish line agonisingly fourth in 48.26 seconds, the second fastest time by a junior.
Gordon, who runs for Memphis Pioneers, walked away with the Boys Under- 20 track award as well.
Hileen James of GC Striders and Ashley Smith of Phoenix were recognised for their excellence in the field events and were joint winners of the Junior Female Athlete of the Year. Guest speaker Deborah Le Blanc reminded all the athletes present that “excellence is something you must be willing to go the extra mile for” and cautioned them to stay grounded.
She noted that excellence can be on and off the track and can be shown when interacting with others.
Le Blanc, a university professor and elected member of the Los Angeles County Community Board, pointed out that when an athlete crosses the finish line, the audience sees the glory and not the story. She argued that no excellence is achieved without hard work.
Meanwhile, Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Orville London, was present to praise the Tobago athletes as well as all others.
“Congrats to the clubs and schools who contributed to the development of the athletes,” he said.
He noted that sporting bodies must evaluate what they have done right and build on it instead of focussing on their errors.
NAAA president Ephraim Serrette commended the athletes who were successful in 2009 and urged those that were not to strive harder. He noted that his organisation made a concerted decision to put emphasis on field events two years ago and this can be seen in the performance of field athletes regionally and internationally.
