SATURDAY’S 17th Young Olympians Classic at the National Stadium will provide athletes with yet another opportunity to reach the CARIFTA Games’ qualifying standards.
The meet, which is being staged by the BC Trac Club, starts at 10 a.m. and will see competition in track and field events for all the junior age groups except the Under-20s.
Shanice Hutson, Sarah Belle, Dominique Wood and Kyle Gale are the only Under-17 athletes who have qualified for this year’s CARIFTA Games in The Bahamas at Easter.
“This meet will offer a taste of what is to come in the schools’ competitions as well as being a qualifier for the CARIFTA Games and other junior overseas competitions,” said meet director Wendy Barrow-Smith.
BC Trac’s Jaliyah Denny, Quantum Leap’s Leilani Haddock and Darian Clarke, Pacers’ Akil Howell and Rising Stars’ Rowland Kirton-Browne will be among those trying to book their CARIFTA tickets.
Denny won the Women’s 200 metres in a pedestrian 26.62 seconds at the Joseph Payne Classic last Saturday but will need to run faster to reach the 24.30 requirement for CARIFTA.
Clarke also needs to break the 11-second barrier as his time of 11.02 last Saturday was short of the 10.80 required for qualification.
An area of concern already this season has been the Under-17 throws, especially among the boys while Kirton-Browne, after coming close with 36.33 metres, will be hoping to finally throw 37 metres in the javelin.
Howell clocked 50.73 in finishing second to Gale (48.85) last Saturday but they were in different heats. Maybe if Howell gets the chance to run against Gale, he would get closer to the 48.90 qualifying standard.
Elite athletes
Elite Distance’s Jahleel Armstrong and Nathan Goddard-McCarthy will also be seeking the 4:14 minutes needed in the Under-17 Boys’ 1 500 while Foundation’s Daesha Brathwaite could also challenge the 5:02 minutes needed for Under-17 girls, along with St Michael’s Ashley Weekes and Asia Foster.
Velocity’s Kristin Stowe-Gooding was the best of the Under-15 girls with 12.90 in the 100 metres last Saturday while Ashem Vaughan (11.76) topped the Under-15 boys.
Rising Stars’ Skye Spencer-Layne had the fastest time of 13.52 seconds in the Under-13 Girls’ 100 metres while Elite’s Tyjah Bishop (13.19) was the fastest Under-13 boy.
Tiara Stewart, who was second to Stow-Gooding in the 100 metres, won the long jump for Under-15 girls with a leap of 5.11 metres. Samiya Dell did likewise among the Under-13s with a best effort of 4.85 metres from Spencer-Layne (4.64).
There will be a technical meeting at the National Stadium Lounge today from 6:30 p.m. (EZS)