Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

NATIONAL STEEPLECHASE record holder Korene Hinds and Mardrea Hyman logged top-10 finishes to lead Jamaica to third place at yesterday's NACAC Cross Country Championships held in Clermont, Florida.

Hinds finished second overall in the women's 6km race in 20 minutes, 59 seconds, the best finish by a Jamaican in the event's three-year history. Hyman (21:49) was sixth.

Malindi Elmore of Canada (20:41) won the women's section.

Tanice Barnett (22:35) and Areita Martin (24:03) were 13th and 22nd respectively as Jamaica finished with a team score of 44, behind winners Canada (21) and United States (41).

Mixed feelings

Hinds had mixed feelings about her performance.

"The race was challenging but I did not let it get to me," Hinds said. "Being able to finish (the race) healthy, I am just happy about that," she said.

The senior 8km men's team, spearheaded by Wainard Talbert's 25 minutes, 58 seconds for 10th, improved to fifth from last year's sixth-place finish.

Jamaica finished with a team score of 93, behind winners the U.S. (10), Guatemala (58), Canada (59) and Puerto Rico (87).

Kirk Brown (27:03), Linton McKenzie (27:05), Jason Saunders (27:14), Damion Bent (27:15) and Phillip Edwards (28:18), finished 26th, 27th, 30th, 31st and 36th respectively.

In the junior female 4km, Natoya Goule (14:34) finished fifth, Teneisha Davis (14:56) came eighth, Neisha Morgan (15:40) 14th and Sherika Dywer (16:01) 18th for a team score of 45 which was good enough for third behind Canada (18) and the U.S. (26).

In the Junior boys' 6km, Kemoy Campbell (19:53) came 13th, Conroy Crossman (20:17) 16th, Ageyan Robinson (20:19) 17th, Lorenzo Wedderman (20:20) 19th, Wayne McIntyre (20:24) 20th and Antoniel Prince (20:32) 21st and the team finished fourth overall with a score of 65 - behind Canada (22), the U.S. (27) and Puerto Rico (62).

anthony.foster@gleanerjm.com