Dominican, Kianne Benjamin earned her All-American Honors for the Polar Bear track teams at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship last weekend in North Carolina.
The All American award is given to students in the US who accomplish both athletic and academic excellence at the collegiate and secondary school levels.
Benjamin, who is part of The Bowdoin College track & field team, had earlier posted a new school record in 60m finals (7.68) to place first in the race and moved up on the NCAA list, closer to assuring a spot at nationals.
She later broke her own school record in the prelims of the 60m dash on Friday with a qualifying time of 7.64 and then ran a 7.65 in Saturday’s final to finish third by a mere .04 seconds, capturing her first All-American honor. She continues to do well – though has suffered with injury at times – at Bowdoin College.
While in Dominica, Benjamin left her gold marks at the Convent High School (CHS) in track and then on to her US High School in Boston where she established new gold records. She also represented Dominica at Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) 2017 games.
In 2019, Benjamin was named Governor’s Academy Girls’ MVP for the school’s 2019-20 athletic program. Her previous track season achievements include medals at the New England Championships and Eastern State Championships.
Bolstered by her latest major achievement in the US, the Dominican student is looking forward to the outdoors in a few months..
Congrats Kee. We are so proud of you
Congratulations young lady and keep striving! We are proud of you.
Congratulations! Keep on striving for excellence.
Congratulations to Kianne. She’s been making phenomenal progress in the US consistently while making her parents Keith and Annie Benjamin real proud. May God help her on into forging her way to much higher ground.