STELLAR PERFORMANCES EXPECTED AT 2022 CUC YOUTH & CARIFTA GAMES TRIALS
In what promises to be one of, if not the most competitive CUC Youth and CARIFTA GAMES TRIALS in the past decade, the Islands top Youth and Junior athletes are all set to dazzle at this weekend’s CUC YOUTH and CARIFTA GAMES TRIALS on Friday and Saturday.
The competition which is scheduled to commence at 5:00pm on Friday 11th March and 2:00pm on Saturday 12th March will have as its main attraction those athletes competing in the Under 17 and 20 categories in the hope of qualifying for the National Team to compete at the Carifta Games to be staged in Kingston, Jamaica between the 15th and 18th days of April 2022.
In the Under 17 Girls category, Aaliyannah Anderson with times of 12.30; 12.59; 12.76 and 12.43 will be hoping that Kristina O’Connor (13.12;13.38) can both push themselves to best the automatic consideration mark of 11.13 over the 100m. In the 200m Anderson has bettered the standard of 25.65 with a clocking of 25.62 and both young ladies will be gunning to run faster than the qualifying mark. In the field events Jade Wright will be looking to improve on bettering her Carifta consideration distance of 28.65m in the Javelin at the Truman Bodden Classic, a fortnight ago, to cement her place on the Team.
In the Under 17 Boys category Anthony Chin Jr. (1.70m) in the very first Meet of the Season came very close to eclipsing the Qualifying standard of 1.78m. Bouncing back from injury sustained at the same Meet he was impressive in jumping 6.05m in U17 Boys Long Jump .40m short of the established mark for consideration, which was won by Andrew Stone with a winning distance of 6.58m which bettered the standard. Stone also bettered the standard of 1.78m in the Under 17 Boys High Jump with a clearance of 1.85m. Both youngsters are again expected to push each other in these events. On the track, competition will be keen the 100m sprint event as Rashawn Robinson (11.9; 11.66 and 11.45 Michail Michelin (11.72 and 11.61) along with Jerrel Maize (11.32; 11.52 and 11.41) will push each other to obtain the ultimate goal of the U17 Boys qualifying standard for consideration of 11.13 seconds.
In the Under 20 Women’s events many time National Representatives Ashantae Graham and Brianna Smith have already presented the Selectors with marks that surpass the qualification standards for selection. Smith has twice bettered the mark of 9.73m in Discus events with throws of 10.44m and 10.29m, while Graham has bettered the Long Jump qualifying distance of 5.39m with a leap of 5.43m. She will also compete in 100m and 200m events in that Division. 2019 Carifta Games Under 17 Bronze Medalist, Rachel Pascal will need to bring her A-Game to the event in order to make the qualifying mark of 33.96, as so far this Season she has only recorded a distance of 31.76m in the Javelin Throw.
The real excitement at the Meet is likely to be in the Under 20 Men’s sprint events, where three athletes have already ran below 11 seconds this Season. Leading the pack is Jamaican based Jaden Reid (10.59), Florida based Devonte Howell (10.66) and locally based Jamar Ellis (10.91). Not to be left out of reckoning are Adrian Ebanks (11.06) and Alex Gordon (11.29). All five of these athletes are likely to lead the charge in the 200m where Reid heads the pack with a 20.91 clocking. In the field Josh Gardener, who has cleared heights of 1.90m, 1.95m, 1.95m, 1.95m and 1.95m will make a further attempt at clearing 2.00m for the first time, being aware that this is a height that he will need to clear in order to medal at the Carifta Games.
Registration Forms are available online at athletics.org.ky
