Athletes Goule, Green get top Intercol awards

Raymond Graham, Gleaner Writer

FORMER Manchester High athlete, Natoya Goule, and former Kingston College standout, Leford Green, were named top international students of the year at Thursday night's Jamaica Intercollegiate Sports Association (Intercol) annual awards ceremony held at the Caribbean Maritime Institute, off the Palisadoes Road.

The ceremony, the 50th anniversary of Intercol, rewarded outstanding athletes in Intercol sports for their performances during 2010-11. University of West Indies' Malysha Kelly, a national senior netballer, walked away with the award for national female athlete of the year while cricketer, Nkrumah Bonner, of the Mico University College, was top among the males.

The past year has been outstanding for both Goule and Green and it was no surprise when both were announced as winners of their awards. Goule, who was a member of Jamaica's team to last year's World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada, has been having a dream start in her freshman year at South Plains Junior College, where she continues to pile up wins and records.

Personal-best times

She has recorded personal-best times of 51.52 seconds and 2:02.11 in the 400 and 800 metres. On the other hand, Green, in his final year at NCAA Division II school, Johnson C. Smith, has also been outstanding with his latest being a Penn Relays win in the college 400 metres hurdles, which he won in 50.00 seconds.

Kelly, who helped UWI to win the senior netball competition, has been one of the country's most outstanding players and has been a key fixture in the defensive position for the Sunshine Girls in the past 12 months. Bonner has represented the Combined Campuses and Colleges cricket team with great success in both the regional one-day and four-day competitions. He also represented the Vice Chancellor's X1 against the touring Pakistan team in a limited-overs match, where he shone with both bat and ball.

University of Technology and G.C. Foster College dominated the evening's activities as both institutions captured the majority of the team and individual awards. UTech took home an overall 10 team awards with G.C. Foster College taking home eight, while the University of West Indies were not far behind, as that institution walked away with six awards.

The University of Technology's Odayne Richards, Salsia Slack and Ramone Cooper walked away with the three individual awards for track and field. Richards received the Al Phillips Trophy for best performance in field events, while Slack and Cooper were the top female and male athletes in this category.

At the function which was chaired by notable track and field analyst, Hubert Lawrence, president of Intercol, Anthony Davis, sports director of the University of Technology, thanked all the colleges for their contribution to a great year.

"I would like to thank all institutions for the roles they played in making Intercol what it is as now, as there is now a positive image, and like previous years, we are finding more athletes staying home to nurture their talents instead of going overseas, as they now understand that we have expert coaches in our institutions who are producing world-class athletes," he said.