Jamaican dominance continues - CARIFTA final day

Guadeloupe enjoyed the benefits of being the host nation at the XXXV CARIFTA Track & Field Championships this weekend at the Rene-Serge Nabajoth Stadium in the rural region of Les Abymes. The ability to field a large team, familiarity with the facility and home support lifted Guadeloupe past its fellow French overseas department, Martinique. Those two teams were among the half dozen in double figures as the Games ended on Monday, 17 April.

As usual, the “winning” team was Jamaica, which topped the medal tables for a 22nd year in a row. Jamaica also featured in the outstanding performance by a female athlete. Sonita Sutherland ran under 51.5 seconds for the third time this year, showing that she will be a major threat come the 11th World Junior Championships in Beijing, China. Her CARIFTA record run of 51.30 came hours after teammate Kaliese Spencer had broken the previous record.

Nero is a hero in Hummingbird land - completes middle distance triple

This is his last year in the under-17 division, and Trinidad & Tobago’s Gavyn Nero has bowed out on a high note. After record-setting runs in the 1500m and 3000m races, he may well feel that a winning time of 1:54.55 in the 800m run is below him. Nero just edged out Jamaica’s Donohue Williams by 44 hundredths of a second. But that triumphant triple title chase within the space of 72 hours will surely be the stuff of legend in the Land of the Hummingbird.

Last year’s under-17 champion, Jamaica’s Theon O’Connor was somewhat off the pace in the senior 800m run. The winner, Trinidad & Tobago's Jamaal James, who was seventh in 2005 after a fall during the race, took the win this time in 1:52.64. O’Connor, making his under-20 debut, ran 1:53.66 for silver. Teammate and compatriot Melvin Weller posted a time of 1:54.06 in third position.

Like Nero, Jamaica’s Natoya Goule ended the meet with two CARIFTA records to her name. With teammate Teneisha Davis pushing her all weekend, Goule repeated as the 800-1500 double champion in the under-17 division, running 2:09.59 to win on Monday. Davis posted 2:10.81 to finish well ahead of Trinidad & Tobago’s Jessica James, whose 2:11.90 earned her bronze.

The senior girls race proved only very slightly faster than the under-17 version, but a great deal better than last year. Again it was a Jamaica 1-2, 2005 silver medallist Bobbi-Gaye Wilkins running 2:09.36 to win, with Keno Heavens running 2:10.38 to finish second. Coming in third, Martinique’s Emilie Ducados ran 2:12.42, which would have won the race in 2005.

Jamaica’s Kirk Brown won the boys 5000m run in 15:57.64, nearly a full minute off the CARIFTA record of 14:58.23, which has stood since 1981. Trinidad & Tobago’s Sandino Nero ran 16:10.42 for second, with Lorry Lucea posting a time of 16:33.38 for third.

Bahamas come alive in half-lap races

Following up on her third-place finish in the 100m dash, Nivea Smith sprinted across the line in 23.66 seconds to win the under-17 200m. The Bahamian held off a strong challenge from 100m silver medallist Carrie Russel, but the Jamaican’s 23.87 meant that she would be a double bridesmaid. Trinidad & Tobago’s Cadajah Spencer ran a tight 23.91 for bronze.

Like his female counterpart and fellow countrywoman, Karlton Rolle overcame a third-place finish in the shorter sprint to win the half-lap version. His time of 21.33 was more than enough to see off the Jamaican duo of Ramone McKenzie and Darrion Brent, with just two hundredths of a second between them (21.56 and 21.58) for second and third.

The best track event for Bahamas was the under-20 women’s 200m. 100m silver medallist Sheniqua Ferguson posted a time of 23.44 into a slight negative wind, with Cache Armbrister running 23.98 for the bronze medal. Separating the two was Jamaican junior champion Anastacia Leroy, whose 23.54 gave her silver.

Stepping up to the under-20 division with great alacrity was Jamaica’s Yohan Blake. He took more than a second off last year’s winning under-17 time, running 21.12 after opting to concentrate on just one race. Withley Williams also improved greatly, his 21.37 taking the silver for St Kitts-Nevis. Kervin Morgan of Trinidad & Tobago ran 21.41 for third.

Brathwaite overcomes hurdles for Barbados

Coming into the Games with an injury, Ryan Brathwaite still had high hopes in the 110m Hurdles. After all, after finishing second at CARIFTA last year, the young Barbadian ran 13.44 to take silver at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Marrakech, despite hurting his leg in the semis. Unsurprising, therefore, that Brathwaite would post a breezy CARIFTA record time of 13.85 into a headwind of 1.4 metres per second. Jamaica’s Andre Collins (14.21) and Barbados’ Ronnie Griffith (14.30) struggled a bit with the conditions.

In the boys under-17 division, the home team got a 13.39-second win in the 100m Hurdles from Mathieu Boa. Kimarley Henry was second in 13.43 for Jamaica, and with a time of 13.63, Kristen Taylor-Hepburn will be bringing bronze to the Bahamas. Rosemarie Carty won the girls’ race in 13.87 for Jamaica, just edging Kierre Beckles (13.90) of Barbados. Jessica Alcan ran 14.28 to finish a distant third for Martinique.

All three medallists in the under-20 girls 100m Hurdles were in last year’s final. This year’s champion, Kimberley Laing, ran over the sticks in 13.97 to improve one position. A tight race for second place between the Barbados pair of Kimberly Stanford and Kareesa Farley ended with Stanford’s 14.14 edging Farley out by three hundredths of a second.

Jamaica dictates mile relays

Having run the two fastest individual quarter-miles in the history of CARIFTA, it would have been expected that Jamaica would dominate the girls under-17 mile relay. Leading off with 400m Hurdles champion Sherene Pinnock and with Bobbi-Gaye Wilkins on the third leg, the Jamaicans added 400m gold and silver medallists Sutherland and Spencer to post a run of 3:31.90, 13.23 seconds ahead of Trinidad & Tobago, and a further 1.17 seconds in front of Bahamas.

The junior boys were no less impressive in a much more competitive race. Jair Francis, Allodin Fothergill, Josef Robertson and Tarik Edwards combined to move the baton around the track in 3:07.75, a CARIFTA record. The race was in doubt much of the way, though, as the Bahamian quartet of Demetrius Pinder, Juan Lewis, Carlyle Thompson and Jameson Strachan came second in 3:08.56, with Renny Quow, Kervin Morgan, Darnell Greig and Zewde Hewitt running 3:08.99 for what could well be considered an under strength Trinidad & Tobago team.

Natoya Goule found enough in her to anchor Jamaica to 3:43.65 in the under-20 women’s race. She was joined by Shana-Gaye Tracey, Latoya McDermott and Danielle Jeffery. They beat the Bahamas, whose 3:49.14 was anchored by Nivea Smith. The Bahamas in turn survived a close run of 3:49.78 from Barbados.

Dwight Robinson, Ramone McKenzie, Darrion bent and Akino Ming clocked 3:18.44 to win the under-20 men’s relay. In another tight race for the other podium places, Trinidad & Tobago crossed the line in 3:19.35, with the Bahamas right behind them in 3:19.80 for the bronze medal.

Jumps medals spread around

LaTroya Darrell won two silver medals last year, but after repeating her podium finish in the under-20 Triple jump earlier in the weekend, Bermuda’s champion literally rose to the occasion in High Jump. Darrell added just two centimetres to her silver medal performance of 1.74m from a year ago, but it was good for gold. Jamaica’s Shauntel Thompson and Trinidad & Tobago’s Caleigh Bacchus both went out at that height, but Bacchus had required two attempts to go over at 1.74m, which consigned her to bronze.

Jamaica’s Jerome Myers put the competition beyond doubt from his opening trial in the under-17 Long Jump. With a leap of 7.24m, Myers led from the start, and his third-round effort of 7.15m was the second best performance on the day. Finsihing second, though, with a best mark of 7.12m, was Guadeloupe’s Yohan Ferre. Taking bronze was repeat High Jump champion Raymond Higgs, whose 6.88m earned bronze for Bahamas.

With marks of 11.68m and 11.69m, Yushanni Durant was a cut above the rest in under-17 Triple Jump. Jamaica earned another title through Durant. Chantel Malone posted 11.58m, and she will bring a second silver medal and a third medal overall to the British Virgin Islands. Guadeloupe’s Christie Opet, unable to better her opening 10.84m, took third.

After closing out his under-17 career with a silver medal in Bacolet, Martinique’s Jeremy Varsovie opened his under-20 career with 14.79m and a Triple jump bronze. Ahead of him was St Lucia’s Jeremiah James, a CARIFTA debutant posting 14.81m on his last attempt to overhaul Varsovie. Robert Peddler, with a best mark of 15.03m, won the event.

More democracy in throws results

Jamaica took tow of the three medals in under-20 Shot Put, but that was not indicative of the general trend in the throws. Raymond Brown pushed the ball to 17.06m on his final throw, depriving Dominica’s Tyron Benjamin (the Discus Throw silver medallist) of a title. Benjamin, based in the USA, threw 16.53 to turn the tables on Discus Throw champion Sharif Small. Small’s best effort was 14.89m in a consistent series.

Annie Alexander took her second under-20 title of these Games for Trinidad & Tobago. Her second best throw of 45.43m would have been enough to win, but she posted a mark of 46.67m on her last trial. M. Christine Vulcain flung the platter 45.20m to take silver for Martinique, and Jamaica’s Latanya Nation threw 41.40m for bronze.

In the men’s event, Omar Bryan won for Jamaica, his mark of 48.22m well ahead of the 42.20m posted by Quincy Wilson of Trinidad & Tobago, and although Barbados’ 6’4” Javelin Throw champion Ramon Burgess came close to supplanting the Trinidadian on his last throw of 42.19m, the young giant had to settle for bronze.

After moving up to second in under-17 Shot Put, Deandre Dottin added the Javelin Throw title to her collection. Burgess’ fellow Barbadian was well out of medal position until her final trial, on which she threw 47.19m to win the competition. The French were in the hunt as well, with Guadeloupe’s Leslie Belair holding onto second with a best effort of 36.53m, and Martinique’s Svelta Mondesir posting a mark of 33.91m for bronze.

Little change among top teams

Some had predicted that Jamaica would improve on its record medal haul of 79 from 2003 in Trinidad & Tobago. The ever-dominant central Caribbean nation fell short, but their total of 68 medals (39 gold, 21 silver, 8 bronze) improved on the showing from 2005, when they picked up "just" 59 in Bacolet, again in Trinidad & Tobago. The young women remained well consistent, with 31 (20-10-1) medals compared to 30 (14-12-4) last year. The men added four more gold medals and four more silver, to total 37 (19-11-7) in Guadeloupe.

Last year, Trinidad & Tobago culled a record 36 (13-14-9) medals and finished second. This year, the twin island republic still managed its second best total. Finishing third, T&T's medal total of 33 (8-11-14) owed a great deal to Gavyn Nero. But the team on the rise was clearly the Bahamas. After finishing a disappointing fourth last year, Bahamas will certainly hope that it can build on its 30 medals (9-11-10, as opposed to 5-7-18 last year) and second place finish when the Games go to neighbouring Turks & Caicos in 2007.

Barbados got more medals this year, but won only four events as opposed to six in Bacolet. That meant that a total of 19 medals (4-8-7) was only good enough for fourth place, a straight swap from last year with Bahamas. Guadeloupe got just four bronze medals in 2005; as the home team this year, they won three events, took three silver medals and added seven bronze discs for a total of 13. Martinique's women made the top five again, but the team should probably have done better than 10 medals (1-2-7).

Terry Finisterre for the IAAF