Javelin thrower Hayley Matthews got an early birthday present yesterday when she became the latest athlete to qualify for the CARIFTA Games.
Ten days shy of her 15th birthday, Matthews, the daughter of Pickwick cricketer Mike Matthews, was the only new qualifier in the Selection Championships for the Games in Nassau from March 29 to April 1.
Requiring a distance of at least 38 metres flat in the Under-17 Girls’ javelin, the Harrisonian produced 38.25 metres at Harrison College.
An off-spinning all-rounder who has already represented the Barbados women’s cricket team, Matthews was part of the victorious Barbados team which won the 2012 Caribbean Union of Teachers Championships in Jamaica.
There were no other new qualifiers in the field events, although Tristan Whitehall had another qualifying mark of 16.05 metres in the Under-20 Boys’ shot put and Janeil Craigg did the same with 59.62 metres in the javelin, throwing several metres away from the line.
The action then shifted to Combermere School where spectators gathered in the pavilion, on the grass, on portable chairs under tents and under the trees as announcers Dr June Caddle and Noel Lynch provided line-ups and intermittent comments.
Although they were outside the standards, two of the more impressive runs came from Jade Searles and Joshua Hunte in the 1 500 metres.
Searles clocked 5 minutes 08.65 seconds in the Under-17 girls’ event, slamming the field by at least ten seconds and then threw up.
Hunte, who is Under-17, finished hard and strong in the open race, after putting some daylight between him and Rashid Blackman (4:16.95) with a time of 4:13.26. Raheem Skinner, who is also Under-20 like Blackman, was third in 4:27.14.
In the sprints, Tristan Evelyn won the Under-17 Girls’ 100 metres in 12.37 seconds from Timeka Jordan (12.80) with a headwind of 2.5 metres per second, while Mario Burke and training partner Tamal Atwell did 10.90 and 11.29, respectively, in a slight headwind.
Sprint hurdler Shakera Hall won the Under-20 girls’ race in 13.17 seconds.
Levi Cadogan pulled away from schoolmate Deon Hope (10.90) to win the Under-20 Boys’ 100-metre dash in 10.78 seconds, running into a 2.2 headwind.
Tiana Bowen (59.47) and Ross Jordan (52.79) won the 400 metres for Under-17s, while Erica Charles (58.32) pulled away from Tia-Adana Belle (59.16) who nearly fell after losing her balance and stride in a hole, to take the senior girls’ race.
Anderson Devonish did 49.93 seconds in the Under-20 Boys’ 400 metres, taking the race from Akeem McCollin (50.60) who surprisingly did the long jump in the morning.
Toriann Alleyne and Tramaine Smith won the Under-15 100 metres in 13.41 and 12.27, respectively while Cheyanne Cummins did 62.61 and Akeem Callender 56.55 to take the 400 metres in that age group.
Daley Carter continues to lead the heptathlon with 2 562 points, 40 more than Akeim David.
