The pressure is on and there is little room for error.
Athletes must finish in the top two at the 2011 CARIFTA trials which get underway at 4 p.m. today at the National Stadium with CARIFTA “A” qualifying performances in order to guarantee selection.
Prior performances won’t give athletes an edge for the April 23 to 25 championships in Jamaica unless the times are not “A” standards.
This was expressly stated by Esther Maynard, president of the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) of Barbados, in a telephone interview with WEEKENDSPORT yesterday.
“It is sudden death,” Maynard said.
“We are saying you have to perform on this day. That is what it is. It happens in the United States. Sometimes the favourite gets left home because someone beat them on the day. If someone won a race and didn’t reach the qualifying standard, you have some wriggle room. If the person comes and hits the “A” standard you have to carry them.”
Events like the Under-20 Boys’ 110m hurdles, the Under-17 Boys’ 400m hurdles, the Under-20 Boys’ 400m and the Under-17 Girls’ 400m have multiple qualifiers, but only two can be chosen per event.
The response has been good and most of the track events are well-subscribed. Of note are the quality fields in the pentathlon and heptathlon.
Numbers are also high in the sprints and one unfamiliar face will be Lisa-Anne Barrow. Born in the United States to Barbadian parents, she has been in contact with the AAA and will be competing in the Under-17 Girls’ 100m, 200m and 100m hurdles.
Maynard said that Matthew Wright, who is now at university in England, was still eligible for selection and he had a time of 14:40 minutes in a 5K there.
She estimated the team should be 35 to 40 athletes, based on the number of qualifiers. She said consideration would be given to Under-15 athletes as usual, but the rules of the CARIFTA Games barred 11-year-old Mary Fraser, winner of the 3000m at the Powerade Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletic Championships, from being selected.
Athletes must be at least 14 years old.
Maynard said she was looking for consistency at the trials.
Competition continues tomorrow at 3 p.m.
