WITH THE KIND of form Anthonio Mascoll is in, it’s twice as hard to accept that he won’t be in Bermuda to defend his title at the 2012 LIME CARIFTA Games.
On Wednesday at the San Angelo Relays at Angelo State University, Texas, Mascoll led a South Plains sweep of the 800 metres, stopping the clock in a new junior national record of one minute, 49.73 seconds.
In only his second race for the season after opening with the CARIFTA-qualifying time of 1:51 flat, he shattered his old mark of 1:50.07 set two years ago in Puerto Rico.
The Barbados record is 1:46.24, set in May, 1976 by Orlando Greene.
Mascoll had earlier qualified for the Central American and Caribbean Juniors as well as the World Junior Championships, but this no doubt put a firm tick beside his name. Olympic “B” qualifying is a further three seconds away.
This was just one of several good performances by the overseas-based athletes.
Last weekend at the Arkansas Spring Invitational, Missouri State freshman Althia Maximilien raced to a new personal best time of 53.63 seconds to win the women’s 400 metres.
She has qualified for the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships, joining hurdlers Shane Brathwaite and Kierre Beckles.
Maximilien also had a personal best time of 23.91 in the 200 metres, just shy of the required 23.80.
In the same race, Mara Weekes of Nebraska was slightly faster and under the NACAC standard, also with a personal best 23.68 seconds. The Olympic “A” standard is 23.1 seconds and the “B” time is 23.3. (SAT)
