Barbadian UMary sprinter returns to Nationals

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - The University of Mary track and field is sending 13 athletes to the Division 2 NCAA championships later this week. Sakena Massiah is one of them. She was at nationals last year as well, but this one feels different as Massiah navigates her final season as a college sprinter.

UMary speedster Massiah is back on the National Stage.

“I made it,” said Massiah.

The sprinter punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships after a dominant showing at the NSIC outdoor meet. As a school record holder in multiple events and the conference track athlete of the year, Massiah has accomplished much. But there’s one more thing for her to check off her list before she finishes her final year of eligibility.

“I’m hoping to hit that all-American status, that’ll be like a lifetime goal of mine,” said Massiah.

Massiah’s always shown flashes on the track since transferring to UMary three years ago, yet this year, she’s found another gear.

“A lot of the time, things are in our minds. Definitely this year, I’d say I put more work in, Coach Cale definitely helped me through those times when I was down,” said Massiah.

“I’ve always told her that your time is coming and good things are going to happen. She’d always be a little nervous going into meets, so I was like, just run your race, you do you, and good things are going to happen,” said UMary track and field head coach Cale Korbelik.

Good things are happening off the track as well.

“The culture here at UMary and my teammates especially really made me feel at home, so that was definitely part of me being more open this year,” said Massiah.

Home for Massiah is over 3,000 miles away. The sprinter is from Barbados.

“We’re very close-knit, but I’ve found since I’ve been in Bismarck that a lot of the North Dakotans and stuff, and people from Bismarck are really close-knit, so it did give me that sense of familiarity,” said Massiah.

The D2 Outdoor track and field championships start on Thursday.

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