Harrison College’s javelin thrower Zion Hill and Christ Church Foundation’s triple jumper Jalen Broome have pushed the list of CARIFTA Games’ qualifiers to 18.
Hill booked his spot with a mark of 59.67 metres as he beat the Under-20 boys on Sunday’s final day of the National Junior Championships at the National Stadium.
He needed to get 59.00 metres for The Bahamas’ trip at Easter and he upstaged UWI Blackbirds’ and Kolij product Micah Shepherd, who only managed 54.45 metres after throwing 58.19 metres the previous weekend.
Shanice Hutson, who has already qualified numerous times in the discus, made the grade in the Girls’ Under-17 equivalent with a throw of 42.50 metres. Only 35 metres were required.
On a day when the field events took centre stage, Broome joined Jonathan Miller in qualifying for the Under-20 Boys’ triple jump.
The ebullient Miller got motivation from the crowd and leapt a distance of 15.16 metres, erasing the 15.00 metres established in 2011 by Hakeem Belle.
Broome also succeeded with 14.80 metres, the exact distance needed to make the team.
It was another outstanding day for the Elite Distance’s field event specialist Triston Gibbons, who broke the meet record in the Under-20 Boys’ shot put, held by Dequan Lovell since 2015.
Gibbons’ new standard is 18.87 metres. The previous one was 16.47 metres.
Rasheeme Griffith broke the national junior record in the Under-20 Boys’ 400-metre hurdles.
Griffith, who was the CARIFTA golden boy for the past two years in the Under-18 age group, clocked 51.81 seconds to obliterate Kion Joseph’s previous record of 52.64 seconds set in 2012.
The consistent Nathan Fergusson also went under the old record, clocking 51.89 seconds in a duel that went down to the wire as both athletes repeated their qualification from the Louis Lynch Championships.
Middle distance runner Tafari Bishop, who had already qualified for CARIFTA, placed second in the Men’s Open 800 metres in a personal best 1:53.51 minutes, which should secure his trip to The Bahamas. The race was won by stalwart Anthonio Mascoll in 1:50.77.
St Michael’s Asia Foster just missed out on qualification as she posted 2:21.84 in the Under-17 Girls’ 800 metres, needing 2:19.50.
In other notable performances, Skye Spencer-Layne completed the Under-13 Girls’ sprint double by cruising to victory in the 200 metres in 27.16 seconds. She will be hard to beat at the upcoming Barbados Secondary Schools Athletics Championships.
Ashem Vaughan, watched by his mother Caroline, a former badminton queen, took the Under-15 Boys’ 200 metres in 23.08 seconds. Danica Gittens of Proformers won the Under-15 Girls’ timed final, posting 25.85 seconds. (AT)
