BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ELEVEN of the Federation’s best junior athletes have landed in Curacao to compete against their Caribbean counterparts at the CARIFTA Games which sprints off tomorrow (Apr. 14).
According to Evris Huggins, Public Relations Officer of the St. Kitts and Nevis Amateur Athletics Association (SKNAAA, the team has increased in numbers when compared to last year and that the Association is happy with the quality of selectees.
Thirteen athletes were selected this year to represent the Federation as against four in 2016. However, only 11 made the trip, according to Huggins.
He noted that one male had withdrawn owing to injury while an overseas-based female athlete was unavailable due to school commitments.
“We are quite happy with the quality of the team. We had just about 24 records broken at the TDC Championships and it suggests that the performances are a lot better, and it shows us that our athletes are a lot more competition ready,” Huggins said.
Although not providing full details of the Association’s expectations of the team in its medal hunt, Huggins pointed out that with four Under-18 qualifiers in the line-up and the high standard achieved at the CARIFTA trials, “just to be able to obtain that mark would suggest that you are in medal contention”.
“Even those who would not have attained the mark, they would have attained a World U-18 qualifying mark or close to it, would suggest that our athletes are very much prepared for these Games,” he added.
Against that backdrop, the PRO declared that there is no one athlete from whom they have high expectations, but rather the entire team.
“Those of us who have been following athletics throughout the year would know that these athletes didn’t just pop up over night, they have been working hard and attending the Development Meets.”
The 2017 CARIFTA Games gets underway early tomorrow with a number of preliminary round events before the finals are held, with the official Opening Ceremony later in the evening.
