St. Aug's Pierre Highlighted In Sports Illustrated Magazine

St. Aug's Pierre Highlighted In Sports Illustrated Magazine

Standout track and field sprinter Barbara Pierre (Sr./Winter Haven, Fla.) of Saint Augustine’s College is in the Nov. 23 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. She appears in the Faces in the Crowd section for winning the CIAA women’s cross country individual title.

“My first thought was, ‘Wow!,’ because that is a huge sports magazine,” Pierre said.

Pierre led the Lady Falcons to the CIAA team championship on Oct. 22 with a time of 20:10.6. Pierre is a world-class sprinter which makes her victory so unique. She competed for Haiti in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Pierre was featured in SI for her rare ability to run both short-distance and long-distance races.

“This was my focus since this past summer,” Pierre said about her cross country victory. “I wanted to start the year right. My coach [George Williams] believed I could win. That gave me more courage to do it.”

Pierre is a two-time NCAA Division II national outdoor champion in the 100-meter dash, and she is the defending three-time national indoor champion in the 60-meter dash. She shares the national 100-meter record and owns the 60-meter record.

“We are very proud of Barbara, and we hope that she continues her success,” said Williams, who has coached the Falcons to 31 NCAA Division II national track and field championships.

In addition to being in Sports Illustrated, Pierre is also on the magazine’s website. Click on to http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/scorecard/faces/2009/11/23/ to see the Faces in the Crowd section.

Pierre is the second Lady Falcon in two years to be mentioned in Sports Illustrated. Former standout Kwonya Ferguson was featured in Faces in the Crowd in the March 26, 2007 issue.