BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - TEAM St. Kitts and Nevis added two more bronze medals to their collection on day three of the 44th CARIFTA Games being held at the Kim Collins Athletic Stadium.
After winning two silver and one gold medals on Saturday evening, St. Kitts and Nevis equalled their best medal haul in the history of the CARIFTA Games with one day remaining.
Aljani Bridgewater won bronze to capture the Federation’s first track medal in the Under-18 Boys 400m in53.44 seconds, an event won by Rival Leacock of Barbados who crushed his opponents to win by a huge margin running a time of 51.34 seconds.
Junelle Bromfield of Jamaica set a new record in the Under-18 Girls 400m Hurdles in a new time of 59.55 seconds in a seemingly unchallenged race.
Spectators were treated to some impressive performances in the Under-20 Boys Long Jump as the participants consistently leapt over seven metres. However, the Federation gained their second medal of the day with a Nathaniel Huggins’ jump of 7.37m to capture bronze while Andwuelle Wright of Trinidad and Tobago took gold with a leap of 7.44m.
Tariq Hosford of Trinidad and Tobago won the Under-18 Boys Javelin with a massive throw of 70.73m. He was at the time trailing Kevin Nedrick of Jamaica when he stepped up and threw the javelin way beyond the red marking, which indicted the old record, while Anderson Peters of Grenada retained his position as the number one in the Under-20 Javelin with a throw of 70.09 metres.
For the 4x100m, one could have felt the tension in the air at the Stadium as the crowd was in anticipation of some close relay events. However, it was the Jamaican teams that won all four events with the home side placing fourth in three of them.
In the first relay, the Jamaican females captured the Under-18 event and were followed by Trinidad and Tobago in a close race that brought the crowd to its feet. Team St. Kitts and Nevis put in a commendable performance placing fourth and almost clipped the third placed Guadalupe.
The Jamaicans also took the Under-18 Boys with Trinidad and Tobago again taking silver and Bahamas third. St. Kitts and Nevis again ran in fourth.
The third relay, Girls Under-20, saw three countries competing in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Bahamas. The Bahamians led for the first three legs of the race but fell victim to the Jamaican sprint machine.
And the final race of the evening produced a heartbreaking moment for St. Kitts and Nevis as they remained on par with the remainder of the field and looked set to snatch third place. However, a strong run by Trinidad and Tobago’s the anchor saw them passing the home side just before the line. Once again the race was won by Jamaica with Bahamas taking second.
The 44th CARIFTA Games will end today (Apr. 4) and it definitely seems that the Jamaicans will retain their title as the Caribbean's Track and Field Champions.
