It was left to Antonio Hoyte-Small to help brighten a fairly dull first day of the National Junior Track And Field Championships at the National Stadium on Saturday.
Hoyte-Small,who had already qualified for the CARIFTA Games in the Under-20 Boys’ 400 metres, did so again but also smashed the meet record of 47.64 seconds set by Jonathan Jones last year.
It was a majestic run by the Rising Star athlete who started to build momentum on the back stretch and then kicked clear of the field with 100 metres to go on his way to posting the new mark of 47.25 seconds. Jonathan Jones won his preliminary, but didn’t compete in the final.
Another CARIFTA qualifier, Rasheeme Griffith, placed second in 48.31 seconds and Jamahl Burke came third in 48.68 seconds.
Kyle Gale is on his way to the Bahamas too after caning the Under-17 Boys in the 400 metres in a blistering personal best of 48.30 seconds. The Quantum Leap athlete easily beat the qualifying mark of 48.90 seconds.
Sarah Belle of Velocity Management was another bright spark, bringing spectators to their feet with a flawless display of hurdling in both the preliminaries and the Under-10 Girls’ 100 metres hurdles final. She clocked 14.11 seconds in the prelim and lowered it to 13.83 seconds in the final. The CARIFTA qualifying standard is 14.40 seconds.
Belle is one of only four Under-17 Girls making the trip so far to the Bahamas. The others are Shanice Hutson, Rowland Kirton-Bowen and Dominique Wood.
Twelve-year-old Layla Haynes created a stir in the Under-17 Girls’ 1500 metres, winning the event in 4:53.20, beating the CARIFTA standard which was set at 5:02.00 . Were she eligible, Haynes could have competed among the Under-20s as she also surpassed their time of 4:55.00. However, the CARIFTA games regulation is that an athlete must be 14 and over to participate.
Triston Gibbons gave another elite performance in the Under-20 boys’ discus with a throw of 56.48 metres, having already qualified at a previous meet.
Shanice Hutson, competing among the Under-17 girls, hit a target of 13.38 metres to reinforce her passage to the Bahamas for the shot put.
The Under-17 Boys’ 100 metres final produced a photo finish between winner Darian Clarke of Quantum Leap (10.98 seconds) and the unattached Mikhail Carvalho (11.00 seconds). Both fell short of the qualifying time of 10.80 seconds.
Kuron Griffith of Blackbirds took the Under-20 Boys’ division ahead of the unattached Matthew Clarke and Josiah Clarke. Griffith ran a time of 10.84 seconds, outside the standard of 10.55 seconds.
Athletes from St Vincent and the Grenadines made their presence felt. Tamara Woodley won the Under-20 Girls’ 400 metres and Zita Vincent the Women’s Open 1 500 metres.
The biggest worry for selectors is that so far no Under-20 girls have qualified for CARIFTA. (AT)