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Junior Kay-Tiarra Johnson was the top finisher for the Firebirds with a time of 23:06.
Junior Kay-Tiarra Johnson was the top finisher for the Firebirds with a time of 23:06.
Posted: Oct 17, 2014

Firebirds Boast Several Season-Bests at Delaware State Cross Country Invitational

Results

SMYRNA, DE - Competing on a familiar course at the Delaware State University Cross Country Invitational, the Firebirds took full advantage, as several runners posted season-best performances to close competing in the month of October.

Leading the way as she has done over the past three meets, junior Simone Grant (Health Education – Bronx, NY/Pelham Prep Academy) continued her steady improvement competing at the 5K event, running a season-best and personal-best of 21:41 to finish 26th best overall amongst 76 competitors. Head coach Alton McKenzie talked about the importance of improving week after week for UDC's star runner.

"This was another great performance from Simone," McKenzie said. "She continues to show improvement which is the progression you'd like to see throughout the season."

Also showing great improvement from her last performance was sophomore KayTiarra Johnson (Psychology – Hempstead, NY/Hempstead HS), who ran over 30 seconds faster than her previous outing to finish in 21:49 for a 27th place finish overall. The next scorer for the Firebirds was senior Kimoy Mais (Mass Media – St. Andrew Jamaica/St. Andrew HS), who came away with a personal-best time of 22:57 to finish 38th.

"KayTiarra's coming into her own, and Kimoy has also continued to improve as well," McKenzie said. "Our goal is for [Simone, Kay-Tiarra and Kimoy] to push the rest of the team to ensure we can maximize our performance as a unit."

The next two scorers for UDC were junior Christina Baker (Psychology – Kingston, Jamaica/Collegiate Institute for Math & Science), who ran 24:34 for 53rd, and senior Jerily Benjamin (Health Education – Queens, NY/Phillip Randolph HS) who completed the 5K course in 24:52 - one spot behind in 54th.

"Personal-bests and season-bests are all we can ask for during a season, so our goal is to continue improving weekly and use that momentum to carry us through the rest of the cross country season," McKenzie said.

The Firebirds will be off for a few weeks before they compete at the East Coast Conference Championship meet on November 8th in Rochester, NY.