Four St. Croix residents competed last week in Montana’s Olympic-style Big Sky State Games, a division of the State Games of America.
In the annual 5K event, Wes and Cindy Whitehurst both took second place in their age division, despite running at some 4,500 feet higher elevation than the USVI. They said, “It was a great race and with a little training, we hope to take first place next year.”
Louise Stapleton took first in her age group, faster than her time in the same race last year. Stapleton, a member of the Virgin Islands Triathlon Federation, said, “It was a well-run race; the timing went off perfectly and, unlike in the Virgin Islands, it was a fast, flat, out-and-back course.”
Competing in the 80-85 age group, Larry Williams high jumped 3’ 7” to best the state record set in 2003 by 5 inches. “I’ve really focused on the high jump the last few years and it finally came together,” Williams said. “It is such a technical event; it was a real challenge. The sprints were fun and my performance was the result of a lot of weight training and plyometric drills.”
Williams also broke and set new state records in the 60-, 100- and 200-meter races and set a new record for the triple jump.
The prior 200-meter record was 52.0, which the Virgin Islander bested by 8 seconds at 44.00.
A Montana native, Williams said, “I guess I finally got in shape after all these years of training.”
“There’s not as much competition as I would like in the 80-85 group, but we are there proving seasoned citizens can do more than watch TV,” he said.
