Tia-Adana Belle was one of the few bright sparks on an otherwise low-key first day of the 2011 CARIFTA Trials on Friday night at the National Stadium.
Belle of Elite Distance has been improving with every race and clocked a personal best 56.49 seconds in the Under-17 Girls’ 400 metres to secure her spot on the team for the April 23 to 25 CARIFTA Games in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
After running a very conservative first 200 metres, Belle’s strides opened up with just under 200 metres to go and she pulled away from the field with ease, lowering her time from 57.14. Her form never broke down and she ran through the line, leaving one to wonder what more she has left if she is challenged.
Erica Charles of Freedom Striders was second in 58.52 seconds.
The Under-20 Boys’ 110-metre hurdles didn’t live up to expectation, with Quantum Leap’s Daley Carter and Kemar Jones and Rhys Phillips of Rising Stars opting to take their chances in the heptathlon. It left the Rising Stars trio of Tyrell Forde, Tramaine Maloney and Raphael Jordan to fight for the coveted two spots.
Jordan got the better start, but Forde and Maloney, whose left leg was strapped, ran back at him over the last five hurdles. Forde had the best race and won in 13.98 seconds, a Pan Am Juniors “B” time, and Jordan was second in 14.17. Maloney hit four of the last five hurdles and finished third in 14.37.
Competitive
The girls’ event was even more competitive. Springer Memorial’s Sade-Mariah Greenidge clocked a personal best 14.16 seconds and beat Kenrisha Brathwaite of Rising Stars (14.18) as both got Pan Am “B” marks. Brathwaite, who was in her first race since February, had the faster start, but Greenidge came back to match her stride for stride, just easing ahead after the last barrier.
The other athlete who stood out was Ibrahim Hinds of Elite Distance who ran against the clock to win the Under-20 Boys’ 1 500 metres in a “B” time of 4 minutes 03.96 seconds.
All of the other winners were quite predictable.
In the Under-17 Girls’ 100-metre hurdles, Shakera Hall of Elite Distance won in 14.62 seconds from Lisa-Anne Barrow (14.75) who came in from the United States, while Dario Scantlebury of Rising Stars (14.65) and Jahvere Worrell (14.75) of Elite Distance hit “B” marks in the boys’ 110-metre event.
Jerrad Mason of Rising Stars and Pacers’ Anthonio Mascoll won the Under-17 and Under-20 Boys’ 400 metres in 48.24 and 47.76 seconds, respectively. John Haynes of Wibisco Stars (49.38) and Foundation’s Shaquille Alleyne (48.24) were second in the respective events with “B” times.
There were no surprises in the 100 metres. Rising Stars’ Tristan Evelyn ran a personal best 12.09 secondsbut just missed “B” qualifying (12.05) in the Under-17 Girls’ race.
Pacers’ Joshua Walcott clocked 11.09 and Mario Burke of the High Performance Programme 11.30 seconds in the Under-17 race; Shavonne Husbands of Freedom Striders won the Under-20 Girls’ event in 12.31 seconds and although Alexandra’s Deon Hope left the field behind with 10.76 second, none of them were qualifying marks.In the field events, Springer’s Tanice Watson (11.46m) in the triple jump and Akela Jones were the only field athletes to reach qualifying standards.
Although Jones made a slight improvement to 1.70 metres in the high jump, it is painful to watch her lack of confidence, running up to the bed and not even attempting to jump after sailing over 1.85 metres last year.
Meanwhile, an interesting battle is developing in the open boys’ heptathlon. Jones and Carter are leading the event after four rounds with 2 882 and 2 769 points, respectively. Pacers’ Raheem Durant is in third place with 2 670 points and Phillips is fourth with 2 629.
With inter-school champion Shavonte Bradshaw ill and unable to compete, Quantum Leap’s Jessica Theobalds leads the pentathlon with 1 770 points, 18 points ahead of Foundation Track and Field Academy’s Stacy Maughn after three events.
