BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - ATHLETES of St. Lucia have proven that they are the best in the sub-region as they came from behind to win the resuscitated OECS Track ande Field Championships held over the weekend at the Silver Jubilee Stadium.
In an exciting end to Day Two of the Championships, St. Kitts-Nevis and St. Lucia were tied on four gold medals and the final race was needed to decide Champions of the meet.
St. Lucia however were victorious in that event and declared the best among the OECS member states.
Starting Day Two on two goal medals and trailing St. Kitts and Nevis, which dominated finished Day One with four, St. Lucia added another three medals to run away with the title.
Talberc Poleon was the standout athlete for St. Lucia as he first upset the odds by beating local boy Lestrod Roland in the 400m in a time of 47.73 seconds. He also ran the anchor leg in the 4x400m, which ultimately sealed the championship for the St. Lucians.
St. Lucian Marbeq Edgar outclassed all competitors in the 1500m to take that event in a time of 3:56.69.
Though starting the day with four gold medals, team St. Kitts and Nevis failed to add another to its count.
In the Female Long Jump, a battle ensued between Krystal Liburd of St. Kitts and Nevis and Amy Harris of Antigua and Barbuda with the former setting the early pace with a leap of 6.13m.
Harris however overcame her early struggles and kept improving as the competition gained momentum. She finished with a best leap of 6.22m.
In the Women’s 100m, the experienced Tahiesha Harrigan took gold in 11.29 seconds with local girls Marecia Pemberton and Meritzer Williams taking silver and bronze respectively.
The Male’s side of this event was dominated by Antiguans Daniel Bailey and Cejhae Greene who took gold and silver, with the former trying to return to his previous best amongst the world’s elite.
The last OECS Championship was held in 1991 in St. Lucia.
It was announced that all winning performances at this year’s meet would be marked as records, as those set at meets 23 years ago and before would be archived.
