Five field eventers are among seven newcomers who have met at least the minimum required standards for the 2011 CARFTA Games.
Chazelle Cumberbatch, Romario Antoine, Tanice Watson, Jalisa Burrowes and Shamar Rock are all knocking on the door of selection but, like Erica Charles and Akeim David who are also looking to make their debut, will have to prove their consistency at the CARIFTA Trials on April 2 and 3.
Cumberbatch of The St Michael School met the “A” standard with a throw of 36.89 metres in the Under-17 Girls’ javelin last Friday at the Powerade Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletic Championships (BSSAC).
Romario Antoine of Deighton Griffith also has an “A” standard with 42.53 metres in the Under-17 Boys’ discus, as does Springer Memorial’s Tanice Watson with 11.63 metres in the Under-17 Girls’ triple jump.
Her schoolmate Jalisa Burrowes is the youngest qualifier at 14 years old with a “B” distance of 5.52 metres in the Under-17 Girls’ long jump. She will be joining Akela Jones who has “A” standard (5.81m, 5.77m) in that event as well as “B” marks in the high jump (1.65m) where she is the defending champion and in the 300m hurdles (44.23 seconds).
Shamar Rock of The Lester Vaughan leapt 6.74m for a “B” mark in the Under-17 Boys’ long jump and will be hoping to add the triple jump later this week.
David of St Leonard’s Boys’ has a “B” mark of 55.84 seconds in the Under-17 Boys’ 400m hurdles, behind Dario Scantlebury of Queen’s College who has an “A” of 55.38. Garrison’s Charles has 57.75 in the 400m in the same age group.
Overall, about 22 athletes have met the standards laid out by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA), but nowhere has the intrigue been as great as the Under-20 Boys’ 110m hurdles where there are five quality qualifiers.
Leading the way is Tramaine Maloney of The Lodge who raced to a potentially new junior national record of 13.39 seconds last Wednesday, chased every step of the way by Raphael Jordan (13.42).
Both are in line for the World Youth Games in Lille, France.
Tyrell Forde of UWI has a best time of 14.06 in that event, while The Lodge’s Daley Carter and Kemar Jones of Queen’s have “B” times of 14.37 and 14.23 seconds, respectively. Jones, a former high-jump champion, also met the “B” standard when he cleared 2.06m on Friday afternoon in that event.
Maloney has an “A” time of 53.66 seconds in the 400m hurdles and Springer Memorial’s Sade-Mariah Greenidge (14.40) and Kenrisha Brathwaite (14.36) of Rising Stars are the other qualifiers in the hurdles, both with “B” standards.
The senior boys’ 400 metres also has three “A” qualifiers in Ellerslie’s Anthonio Mascoll (47.16) and Nicholas Deshong (47.88) as well as Foundation’s Shaquille Alleyne (47.89). Mascoll’s time meets the Pan Am Juniors standard. He and Alleyne are yet to qualify in the 800m where Ibrahim Hinds of Harrison College has a “B” time of one minute 54.22 seconds.
Deshong also has an “A” time of 21.36 in the 200m and a “B” time of 10.58 in the 100m.
Jerrad Mason of Harrison College has “A” times in the Under-17 Boys’ 400m (48.22) and 800 (1:53.03, also World Youth) and Foundation’s John Haynes (49.38) is a “B” mark.
Combermere’s Cindy Forde, with 2:17.57, has a “B” time in the Under-17 Girls’ 800m.
The Coleridge and Parry duo of Leah Bannister and Nicoliai Bovelle round out the list of qualifiers. Bannister set a new BSSAC record with an “A” standard of 42.71 to add to her 42.61 from the Louis Lynch Championships in the Under-20 Girls’ discus, while Bovelle, a Central American and Caribbean Juniors gold medallist, has a “B” mark of 58.73m in his first year in the Under-20 Boys’ javelin.
The CARIFTA Games will be held in Jamaica from April 23 to 25.
