Young Olympians in the making

This weekend was a chance for some of our youngest athletes to showcase their talents on the track and field at the 17th Annual Young Olympians Track Meet at the National Stadium.

From as young as Under-7 all the way to Under-17, the pride of the island’s schools and track clubs invaded the track from around 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. All did well but it was Roland Kirton-Browne of Rising Stars who stood out among the pack, winning the U17 Girls Shot Put with a toss of 11.65m and then went on to qualify for the CARIFTA Games in the Javelin event. She surpassed the CARIFTA standard of 37m with a throw of 41.90m to book her way to the regional event. Also on the field U17 Boy Kevon Hinds competing for BC Trac Athletic Club won the Javelin and Shot Put events with throws of 44.89m and 11.51m respectively.

On the track St. Alban’s Primary athlete Shamari Addison won the U13 Boys 200m and 400m. He was a convincing winner in the latter event winning by over two seconds in a time of 1:04.11 minutes. Aaron Massiah of High Performance Programme was second in the same Heat of the timed final with 1:06.76, while Teon Haynes was third in 1:09.35 minutes. Addison had a real challenge in the 200m, however, from Amari Forde of Full Flyt Athletics where the two boys pushed themselves down the track to the very wire. Forde crossed the line in a time of 27.22 seconds just behind Addison in 27.10.

Leann Greene of Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary did the U9 Girls Sprint double, winning the U9 50m and 80m races in a time of 8.36 and 12.76 seconds. Elizer Williams of St. Alban’s won the U9 Boys 50m in 7.98 seconds. Tiana Burke of the Step Ahead Programme won gold in the U7 Girls 50 stopping the clock at 9.51 seconds. Kahlia Fitzpatrick-Blackman was second with 9.96 and Chelsea Jemmott third with 10.10 seconds. The U7 Boys 50m was a 1-2 affair for Wilkie Cumberbatch as Joshua Payne claimed first place in a time of 9.03 in a down to the wire finish against his schoolmate Dalani Burke who finished in 9.14 seconds. Bronze went to Elijah Marshall of St. Alban’s Primary with a time of 9.24.

As usual the Applewhaite sisters Tia and Tania, performed well on the blue and yellow track. Running in separate Heats in the U11 Girls 60m, the two Rising Star athletes found a way to be just as competitive as if they ran together. Tania stopped the clock in a time of 8.80 seconds, while Tia crossed the line in 8.81 seconds as Amara Harewood of St. Alban’s who pushed Tia in the second Heat was third in 9.10 seconds. Tia won the 100m battle to earn herself a gold after breaking the tape in 14.06 seconds in Heat 3. Tania was second in 14.15 seconds with Ashari Brathwaite of Wilkie Cumberbatch taking bronze in 14.69 seconds.

Adeyah Brewster of Performers Track Club was over the moon after the U17 Girls 100m after she beat speedster Jaliyah Denny of BC Trac into second place. Brewsters had a bad start but passed Denny with 15m to the line, finishing in 12.75 seconds, while Denny had a time of 12.88 seconds and Saydiah Russel of High Performance was third in 13.19. Samiyah Dell of Full Flyt showed that she was still in good form as she dismissed the competition in the U13 Girls 400m to finish well ahead in a time of 1:05.52. She also won the Shot Put with a toss of 7.87m.

Special mention must be made to the U15 Boys who jumped in the High Jump event. The athletes kept clearing heights on their third attempt, lifting each other to a high level. Josh Newton of Performers came out on top based on less knockdowns, but he and Jamarco Gill also of Performers both cleared 1.60 meters. Hakeem Sobers of Full Flyt was third with a height of 1.50m.
(AS)