IN KEEPING WITH THE HIGH standards which the late Reuben Bayley set, last Sunday's Open League athletics meet held in his honour, churned up several quality performances at the National Stadium.

From the several secondary schools, one primary school in Charles F Broome Memorial and athletic clubs, nine athletes turned in performances that met the standards for qualification to represent Barbados at the CARIFTA Games.

And, in the case of Kierre Beckles and Ryan Brathwaite, their individual times also qualified them for the Pan American Juniors.

In the Under-17 Girls, 15-year-old Kenrisha Brathwaite of Rising Stars destroyed the field in the 110-metre hurdles, clocking 14.92 seconds, with Edith Woolley (17.21) and Springer Memorial's Kycia Knight (17.32) in second and third position respectively, looking hopelessly at her heels.

Brathwaite was later a mere .23 seconds off qualifying for the 300-metre hurdles, which stands at 45 seconds.

The speedy Mara Weekes of Quantum Leap, competing in the Under-17 Girls' division, made the CARIFTA qualifying standard in both the 100 and 200 metres. In the former, she clocked 12.03 seconds and 24.14 in the 200 to beat the 24.65 qualifying mark.

Sade Greene, also of Quantum Leap, followed Weekes home in both events, with Kimberley Stanford also of Quantum Leap in third position in the 100, and Pacers' Shirlene Williams taking third position in the 200-metre dash.

Talented Kierre Beckles, overlooked in the recent National Sports Council awards, clocked a fluid 14.05 seconds in the Under-20 Girls' 100-metre hurdles. She was simply too much for the fast-finishing Karessa Farley (14.36) and Kimberley Stanford (14.59), both of Quantum Leap. However, the times of the latter two were also good enough to qualify them for CARIFTA where the minimum standard is 14.85.

Latoya Griffith with a time of 1:01:27 also made the grade in the Under-20 Girls in the 400-metre hurdles. Everton Greenidge of Quantum Leap ran a swift 22.19 seconds in the 200-metre in the Under-17 Boys' to make the standard, and was a mere .10 seconds off the mark for the 100 metres.

Stephan Goodridge also accredited himself well in the 400-metre hurdles and easily made the 54.0 seconds mark for CARIFTA, clocking 53.47.

Eighteen-year-old Ryan Brathwaite's smoking 13.92 seconds run in the 110-metre hurdles was one of the undoubted highlights of the meet, which was watched by an appreciative crowd.

Athletics fans can again make the journey to the National Stadium today and tomorrow for the Louis Lynch Championships.

The meet starts today at 3 p.m. and continues on Sunday at 4p.m. (WG)