Carifta athletes shine at NAAA Jnr Champs in Bacolet

THE top junior athletes in the country, converged at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, in Tobago, for two days of exciting action, in the National Association of Athletic Administration, Junior Championships, over the weekend.

Along with the prestigious honour of wearing the gold medal, as the best athlete at each track and field discipline in the nation, at stake was the last opportunity to qualify for the World Athletic under 20 championships in Cali, Columbia from August 2-7.

A number of the Carifta athletes showed that they were still on top of their game at this stage of the season.

Devin Augustine, of Point Fortin New Jets (PFNJ), got the better of Concorde’s Revell Webster, in their much-anticipated showdown in boys under 20, 100 metres final.

Augustine flashed 10.49 seconds in his victory, in comparison to Webster 10.56. Both athletes dipped under the World Under 20 standard of 10.60 seconds. Jaden De Souza, of Phoenix Athletics Club, filled the bronze medal position in 10.73.

In the girls Under 20 100 metres, Shaniqua Bascombe, of Cougars Athletic Club, dominated the top eight finalists in producing a 11.84 seconds run. Her time eclipsed the 11.90, World under 20 standard.

Bascombe clubmate Reneisha Andrews was a distant silver medallist in 12.12 seconds, followed by Kyah La Fortune of Simplex, in 12.21.

Bascombe was the golden girl among the under 20 females, as she surged to a distance of 5.97 metres across the sand pit, to claim the long jump accolade, and produced a time of 24.56 seconds, to stand atop the podium, after the 200 metres.

Janae De Gannes, of Concorde Athletic Club, who clinched the World under 20 requirements earlier in the season, recovered from a bad start against her season’s rival Alexxe Henry of Zenith Athletic Club, to win the gold medal, in the girls under 17, 100 metres.

Henry’s bullet start and control up to the 80 metres mark seemed destine for the upset, but the power and form of De Gannes propelled her to the finish line in 11.98 seconds.

Henry settled for second in 12.24, while Symphony Patrick of Concorde secured third, in 12.77 seconds.

It was celebration time for De Gannes when she glanced at the clock after her 200 metres run on Sunday. The clock flashed 23.78 seconds, which was inside the 24.40, she needed to run the double sprints in Columbia.

Shakeem Mc Kay, of Abilene Wild Cats, will also wear the national colours in Columbia, when he posted 21.34 seconds, to eclipse the 21.40 barrier, in the boys under 20, 200 metres.

Natasha Fox of PFNJ is another athlete, who will represent the red, white and black in Columbia. The 400 metres specialist, who also gained qualification during the season, settled for the female under 20, gold medal on Saturday.

Fox, 56.94 seconds bettered her clubmate Malika Coutain 59.46, in second, while Sapphire John of Abilene Wild Cats, copped bronze.

Fox also demonstrated her versatility over the 800m, as she took the under 20 title, in two minutes 33.13 seconds.

Carifta 800 metres bronze medallist Troy Llanos and 5000 metres bronze medallist Tafari Waldron, provided a nice headline for the boys under 20, 1500 metres race.

Waldron, of Cougars, set the early pace for one and a half lap, while Llanos representing Fatima College, took on the front running thereafter, and extended his real estate to the finish, to be timed at four minutes 9.29 seconds.

Waldron sprinted home in Four minutes 11.95 seconds, to establish a four-second gap over third-place Nkosi Toney of Tobago Select, who clocked four minutes 15.89 seconds.

Llanos completed a satisfying weekend, after winning his second gold medal in the under 20, 800m.

Waldron did get some redemption in the 5000m, as he easily won in 16 minutes 4.47 seconds.

Carifta under 17 female 1500m silver medallist, Kaleigh Forde of Cougars, won two gold medals over the weekend. She triumphs in the 1500m, posting a time of five minutes 10.13 seconds, and coasted home in the 3000m, timed at twelve minutes, 52.34 seconds.

Omare Thompson of One-a-Week Club was also a double gold medal winner on the track. Thompson took care of business in the boys under 17, 800m, where he won in two minutes 7.1 seconds.

He took the 1500m title in Four minutes 27.83 seconds.

Kaizen Panthers, Kimani Kent doubled up in the boys under 20, long and triple jumps, attaining distances of 6.73m and 13.80m respectively.

Dylon Woodruffe of Cougars, was the star among the under 20 boys, 100m sprinters, as he touched the finish line first, clocking 11.03 seconds.

Hakeem Chinapoo 11.13 seconds, silver medal performance, added to the silverware collection of Simplex, ahead of Cougars Khadeem Ryan 11.15, in third.

Woodruffe could not complete the double on Sunday, as he was beaten into second place, following a Cougars clean sweep. The clock showed Kaiyin Morris 22.06, Woodruffe 22.08 and Ryan 22.10.

Kaori Robley recorded a personal best to win the girls under 17, 400 metres. The Kaizen Panthers athlete stopped the clock at 57.48 seconds, to finish ahead of Kernes Shelbourne of Oasics 58.94 and Diamond Paul of PFNJ 59.81.

In the boy’s equivalent, Cougar’s Kaiyin Morris dominated his peers to record a winning performance of 49.80 seconds. The Abilene Wild Cats pair of Daeshaun Cole and Anderson Barnwell notched silver and bronze in 51.58 and 51.64 respectively.

Cyril Sumner of Memphis Pioneers, headlined the boy’s under 20, 400 metres, winning in 49.31 seconds.

He was followed to the line by Joshua Mascal of Fyzabad Athletic Stars in 49.50 and Keone John 49.69.

Among the top performers in the field category, Shakira Kent competing unattached, won the under 20 female Discus with a distance of 43.44 metres.

Neyo Joseph of RSS Phoenix, capture the boys under 17 shot put with a best effort of 12.26 metres, while his clubmate Deyonce Graham claimed the under 20 girls hammer title, throwing 22.27 metres.

Jayden Scott of Mercury threw the iron ball 15.40 metres for pole position, in the boys under 20 shot put, while Jinell Campbell of Mason Hall Police Youth Club, won the female equivalent with a throw of 12.33 metres.

Adrianne Quamina of D’Abadie Progressive, prevailed in the female under 17 shot put with a 10.76 metres measurement. Hakeem Kerr of RSS Phoenix, took the under 17 boys javelin title with a throw of 44.74 metres.

Among the marque performers in the under 15 category were, Aniqah Bailey of One-a-Week Club, who did the double in the female 800m and 1000m. Kadeem Chinapoo did the sprint double, clocking 11.40 in the 100m and 22.92 in the 200m.

RSS Phoenix club of Tobago, which dominated the field events, were declared the champions of the meet, after amassing 761 points. Cougars were second with 426 points followed by Concorde in third with a total of 264 points.