Mascoll steps up

CARIFTA GAMES GOLD MEDALLIST Anthonio Mascoll broke the 20-year national junior record in the 800 metres last weekend as he continued preparation for various international track meets later this year.
On June 5, almost 20 years to the day the previous record was set, Mascoll clocked a winning 1 minute 50.07 seconds
at the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational in Puerto Rico, just inside the 1:50.14 set by former Young Lion Stevon “Suzuki” Roberts on June 3, 1990.
Mascoll lowered his best time from 1:52.16 and also met the B qualifying standard of 1:51.00 for the IAAF World Junior Championships which will be held in Moncton, Canada, from July 19 to 25.
The second-placed time in the event was 1:50.52 and third was 1:52.24.
The 17-year-old Ellerslie School and Pacers Track Club athlete has shown steady improvement this season, from a record 1:54.27 at Inter-School Sports and 1:52.28 at the Junior National Championships to this personal best.
Mascoll was one of six Barbadians who competed in Puerto Rico at the Under-20 meet.
Foundation’s Shaquille Alleyne was second in the 400 metres in 48.22 seconds, behind the winning time of 47.25, and Tramaine Maloney was third in the 400m hurdles in 56.71 seconds.
Still under 17, the Rising Stars and Lodge School runner did well over the Under-20 hurdles. The winning time was 53.70, and Alleyne’s 56 seconds flat was good for second.
Among the girls, Akela Jones had a sub-par 1.65 metres in the high jump – the winning jump was a meet record 1.70m – and her Springer Memorial teammate Sadé-Mariah Greenidge was fourth in the 100m hurdles in 14.73 seconds. Both were beaten by Kendell Williams who clocked 13.73 in the hurdles.
The final Barbadian competitor was Shavonne Husbands of Deighton Griffith and Freedom Striders who, despite placing second in her heat, was sixth overall in a time of 24.89 seconds in the 200 metres. That race was won in 24.22 seconds.
Esther Maynard, president of the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA), observed that the six competitors were all members of the Youth Olympics team and this was part of their preparation for the August 14 to 26 event in Singapore.
“The boys did quite well. It was a good experience for them.
“It was the first major meet since CARIFTA and it will assist them as they go through the last meets here – the Olympians Classic and the National Championships – before going off to international competition like Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Juniors and World Juniors,” she said.
The CARIFTA Games in the Cayman Islands were used as a qualifying event, along with others in the United States, Canada and El Salvador, to determine the team from this region. Each country is only allowed one competitor per event.
A representative from the International Association of Athletics Federations selected the athletes.