The University of The Bahamas (UB) athletics team made history this past weekend, taking part in its first indoor meet.
The squad traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, to compete in the Fred Wilt Invitational that was hosted by Purdue University inside the Lambert Fieldhouse arena.
Decathlete Ken Mullings, who won a silver medal at the CARIFTA Games last year, took part in two events for UB. He was second in both the 60 meters (m) hurdles and the men's high jump. In the 60m hurdles, he finished in 8.14 seconds, trailing Purdue junior Justin Veteto to the tape. Veteto was timed in 8.07 seconds.
Another UB athlete, Avery Thompson, was third in that race, in 8.22 seconds.
Mullings also took part in the high jump, clearing 2.06m (6 feet 9 inches) to finish second. The winner, Eric Blackman, a junior at Purdue, also cleared 2.06m, but prevailed based on number of knockdowns. Dakota Thompson, a junior at Butler, cleared 1.96m (6 feet 5-1/4 inches) for third place; Stony Duncanson, from UB, cleared the same height but settled for fourth based on number of knockdowns.
"I think that the whole team performed excellent for our first indoors meet. We had a lot of good results," said Mullings. "There is only room for improvement. I look forward to better results in the future - just trying to achieve better goals."
His coach had nothing but high praise.
"Right now, Ken is on a semi-professional level. When you look at the times and the marks, and being indoors for the first time, he is right up there," said team head coach Rupert Gardiner. "He would have won those events at the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) with those performances. Also, I'm so proud of Avery, because in practice, he wasn't doing that well. He rebounded and performed very well at this meet. We have a great freshman class, and once we continue to work with them, they could only get better. The freshmen came here and they weren't scared at all. They performed like they were juniors and seniors. These kids really rose to the occasion."
In the men's long jump, Aaron Cox leapt 6.50m (21 feet 4 inches) and finished sixth. Gerald McGee, a junior at Purdue, won the event with a leap of 7.36m (24 feet 1-3/4 inches). Tyler Askew, jumping unattached, finished second with a jump of 7.07m (23 feet 2-1/2 inches); and Matthew Garrison, a junior at Purdue, finished third with a jump of 7.03m (23 feet 0-3/4 inches).
In the women's 60m, UB athlete Ronnecia Ferguson was sixth in 7.83 seconds. Another UB athlete Alexandria Strachan was third in her heat and finished ninth overall, in 8.16 seconds.
"I thought they were all phenomenal. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give the team a 9.5," said Gardiner. "I couldn't have asked for a better performance, with this being their first international meet of the year and their first meet indoors. Placing in top 10 at a major division one meet is a good start for the season. They could get better from here - perform just as good or better at the other meets for the year."
A pair of Bahamians finished first and second in the women's 60m, with Purdue junior Devynne Charlton taking the tape in 7.34 seconds, and her teammate, Carmiesha Cox, also a junior, finishing second in 7.35 seconds. Purdue freshman Sekayi Bracey completed the sweep for them, crossing the finish line in third in 7.50 seconds. The time for Cox was a lifetime best for her, and placed her third in school history. Charlton holds the school record of 7.30 seconds.
Charlton came right back in the women's 200m, and finished second behind her teammate, junior Savannah Roberson. Roberson won in 24.23 seconds and Charlton was second in 24.28 seconds. UB athlete Shannon Gabrielle won her heat but finished 12th overall in 26.21 seconds.
UB athlete Beyonce Scott finished fourth in her heat of the women's 60m hurdles, and was 11th overall, in 9.70 seconds. She failed to register a mark in the high jump.
Purdue women's 4x400m relay team, featuring Bahamian Carmiesha Cox on the third leg, was second in 3:51.23. UB's team of Antonishka Deveaux, Gabrielle, Scott and Ferguson, ran 4:07.57, for third. Northern Illinois won in 3:50.68.
UB Athletics Director Kimberley Rolle said that she was pleased with their performances.
"I was extremely pleased. We took a contingent of 11 athletes and all turned in good performances, either making it to the semis or finals or doing personal best, but as I told the team, I was most proud of their deportment and how they represented the university," she said. "I think if they continue to keep working hard, we will see good results from this group this year and into the future. I wish to commend our coaches, Gardiner and Rolle, who have been working,diligently with this group from August."
Also for Purdue, Bahamian sophomore Keanu Pennerman was second in his heat of the men's 60m in 6.87 seconds. He failed to finish the final. UB athlete Aaron Cox was fourth in his heat and 10th overall in 7.21 seconds. Leonard Romer, another athlete from UB, was third in his heat of the men's 200m and 14th overall in 24.75 seconds. Tyler Gardiner, from UB, was fourth in his heat of the men's 400m, and 16th overall, in 56.34 seconds.
The University of The Bahamas (UB) will stage open tryouts for women's volleyball and softball, and men's soccer this Saturday at various venues. The tryouts for women's volleyball will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the C.I. Gibson Gymnasium, the tryouts for women's softball will be held at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex, from 1-3 p.m., and the tryouts for men's soccer will take place from 3-5 p.m. at the Roscoe A.L. Davies Soccer Field.
The athletics department of UB is calling for 11th and 12th grade students from around the country to take part. Financial aid is available to student-athletes.

American Brittany Lincicome became the first winner of 2017 on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour, after she defeated fellow American Lexi Thompson yesterday, finishing with a birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic. The event wrapped up on Sunday at the One&Only Ocean Club's Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course on Paradise Island.
The win was Lincicome's seventh of her professional career, and her first victory on tour since the 2015 ANA Inspiration.
After three days of fair conditions on the greens, the golfers had to deal with several stalls in play yesterday due to a heavy downpour that soaked the ground and made an already difficult course that much tougher. Both Lincicome and Thompson were tied at 26-under par 266 after 72 holes, so the pair returned to the par five 18th for a playoff.
Lincicome birdied five of the first seven holes on the day. However, she stumbled with a bogey at 14, before turning in a respectable performance on the final four holes.
"On the last four or five holes in a tournament round, I just kind of clam up, and I'm not as aggressive and I don't make as many birdies," said Lincicome. "I knew that starting the day. I didn't know if weather was coming as well, so I knew I needed to make a lot of birdies early, and hopefully the last couple of holes I could hold on, which is kind of what happened today. It was pretty incredible. Just the leaderboard all week has been amazing, obviously a lot of Americans up at the top, obviously friends of mine, so to come down to the final stretch, it was an awesome day. I worked hard this offseason. It's awesome."
Thompson, who began the day tied for first with Stacy Lewis, birdied the first and par-4 fifth, but went birdie-bogey to close the front nine. She also bogeyed on 11 and 12 before shooting a birdie at the par-5 15th to lift her score to 26-under.
"This whole offseason, I swear I putted two and a half hours each day, it seemed like," Thompson said. "I was just doing non-stop putting drills just trying to get my confidence up, and it showed here. It's paying off. I'm going to keep working extremely hard and stay confident with it."
American Stacy Lewis finished third. She was one stroke behind her two countrywomen. The top five in the first LPGA tournament for the year were all from the United States.
"I mean, there's not much really I could have done better other than hit a better shot from the second shot, but other than that, I was telling Travis, we made 30-something birdies this week and playing some good golf, so I'm pretty happy with it."
Bahamian Georgette Rolle, who competed in the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic for a fourth time, finished her final day of competition at four-over par, and missed the weekend cut.
There were 108 golfers who competed in the fifth annual classic at the One&Only Ocean Club on Paradise Island.
This year's classic offered a total purse of $1.4 million, plus a full allocation of points in the Race to the CME Globe season-long competition. The winner received $210,000 and 500 CME Globe points.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Pure Silk Classic Bahamas continued yesterday at the One&Only Ocean Club's Golf Course on Paradise Island.
After two rounds of competition, American Brittany Lincicome remained on top, finishing 15 strokes over par. She shot birdies on the first three holes and made an ace on the 12th hole to work her way back to the top after trailing Gerina Piller for most of the day.
Lincicome credits playing in a Diamond Resort tournament last week for her fast start.
"I don't like to beat balls on the driving range or practice that much for that matter. So playing in an event, obviously there's a little pressure," she said. "Although it was for fun, there was still some pressure and I wanted to do well. It was nice to kind of get back out there and be in competition again, obviously getting ready for this week."
Piller finished the second round with the second best score of 14-under-par. She's now tied for fifth overall.
Stacy Lewis finished the day in third at 13-under-par and tied for second overall with American Megan Khang.
Lexi Thompson was fourth on the day, shooting 12-under par, while Khang rounds out the top five at 10-under-par.
Thompson is currently in a four-way tie for fifteenth.
"Coming here, I was a little skeptical about the wind earlier in the week, but everyone's playing through it," said Khang. "Still, just getting to come back here with all the good memories. I have my dad on the bag this year so it's good to have him here and he can actually see the course."
Bahamian Georgette Rolle finished the day tied for 104th at six-over-par.
Tournament action continues today and wraps up on Sunday. This year's tournament features the 2016 LPGA Money List Leader and five-time champion, Ariya Jutanugarn. The field also includes several of Hall of Fame players, including Julie Inkster.

The dawn of the PGA Web.com Tour in The Bahamas this year - Exuma and Abaco - was a smashing success, and it all came together under the management of bd Global, LLC, and its president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brooks Downing.
Downing is the one who brought the separate entities together, after being charged by the Ministry of Tourism to produce a sports event in The Bahamas that would show the true beauty of the country - the unique landscape and all the amenities of the Family Islands.
Out of that agreement came the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic that was held January 8-11 at the Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Course and the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic that wrapped up on Wednesday at the Abaco Club at Winding Bay on the island of Abaco. Both events were Web.com Tour events, representing the first time that the tour came to The Bahamas.
"When we were challenged with the opportunity to develop something on the Family Islands, there was a desire to show the true Bahamas. Without question, we have been able to do that with the two Web.com events on Exuma and Abaco," said Downing. "Everything that both of these islands have was showcased to tourists. What really is developing is a golf brand. The brand will drive interest from around the world to play at these unbelievably well-structured courses. It was great secret in golf that these type of courses exist so close off the east coast of the U.S. The golf community in the states will want to come to The Bahamas because of these courses and these events."
The course at the Abaco Club has been written about on numerous occasions, and at one point, was ranked as one of the best in the entire Caribbean region. The unique landscape of the course itself, its deep bunkers and swirling wins make the course very challenging. Still, Great Abaco Classic winner Andrew Landry, of the United States, was able to shoot a 16-under 272 over the course of the four days to emerge victorious. He closed with a five-under 67, and said he preferred it over the one at Emerald Bay. The course at Emerald Bay has its own amenities and characteristics that makes it so unique. It is designed by legendary golfer Greg "The Shark" Norman.
"The beauty of Exuma is what came about from a media and awareness standpoint from the hosting of the Great Exuma Classic there," said Downing. "From digital media alone, the Web.com Tour grew about 20 percent. This is a 28-year-old tour, and in four days, the exposure was off the charts. There was complete activity and interest from the golf community from around the world.
"Here at Winding Bay, this is truly a world-class course. The players have seen courses like this in exclusive areas around the world, but to come here and have the sheer beauty - the picturesque scenes and the wildlife - is truly amazing. They're all talking about next year, and how they will bring their friends and family if they come back."
Downing, who spent more than 25 years in the sports industry, said that the unique schedule of Sunday through Wednesday was a tremendous boost as well. The two events were the only golf tournaments in the world in those time slots, and both received tremendous exposure from the Golf Channel which broadcasted live. The two inaugural champions were Americans Kyle Thompson (Exuma) and Landry (Abaco). Both received purses of $108,000. The total prize money was $600,000 for each.
As for Downing, he began his career in media and public relations, and today he owns one of the fastest growing sports marketing agencies in the United States. He is looking forward the 2nd Annual Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and the 2nd Annual Bahamas Great Abaco Classic next year.