BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TRACK AND FIELD fans in St. Kitts and Nevis left the Silver Jubilee Stadium smiling yesterday (Apr. 4) as the Federation hauled in three medals including one gold on day two of the 2015 CARIFTA Games.
With a leap of 6.11m, Kyrstal Liburd earned herself gold in the Under-20 Long Jump event and drew loud cheers from the crowd when she completed the winning jump.
Liburd punched the air in elation when she saw a white flag was raised indicating that it was a fair jump and received a standing ovation from the home supporters.
SKN’s first medal of the Games came through Kieshona Brooks who was second with a leap of 5.72m, which had her in first place for a short time before she was surpassed by Charisma Taylor of the Bahamas who leaped 5.93m.
Jermaine Francis gained the Federation's second medal, another silver, with a leap of 2.06m trailing behind Lushane Wilson of Jamaica who leaped 2.11m, two centimeters shy of the CARIFTA record.
Favorite for the Under-18 400m Christopher Taylor of Jamaica then captured that title. He received a strong challenge from Jacob St. Clair of Trinidad and Tobago who tried to steal the race, but that had propelled Talylor to set a new record time of 46.64 which surpassed the mark set last year by Deluze Henri of The Bahamas.
His compatriot Bloomfield then repeated the feat in the Under-20 Boys category, dashing to a new record of 45.85. Warren Hazel of St. Kitts and Nevis just missed out on a medal position in that event.
Christoffe Bryan of Jamaica equaled the CARIFTA record in the Boys Under-20 High Jump with a leap of 2.21m, While Sahjay Stevens, also of Jamaica, set a new mark of 16.31 metres in the Under-18 Girls Shot Put in a day that was dominated by the Jamaican athletes.
An exciting battle ensued between Javan Martin of The Bahamas, Coull Graham of Antigua and Barbuda and Akanni Hislop of Trinidad and Tobago. Hislop got out to a fast start but could not thwart the challenge of Martin who finished in a time of 10.41 seconds.
Speaking with SKN Manager Evris Huggins after the final event, he indicated that this is St. Kitts and Nevis’ best ever medal haul at the end of the second day’s competition. He however indicated that the team remains on par to eclipse the Federation’s best of five medals.
