BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE curtains came down on the 44th CARIFTA Games last evening (Apr. 6) at the Kim Collins Athletic Stadium with St. Kitts and Nevis finishing their best ever medal haul in the history of the meet.
In a festival like atmosphere and a mood of camaraderie and the Bahamian Junkanoo Band providing musical entertainment, the CARIFTA Baton was passed from St. Kitts and Nevis to Grenada in which the 2016 Games will be hosted.
The day also saw the home team adding four medal to their collection to end the Games with a country best nine medals.
Team Jamaica however once again walked away with the most medals in a landslide victory.
Kieshonna Brooks of St. Kitts and Nevis won her second medal of the Games by placing third in the U-18 Girls 100 metres hurdles in a time of 13.71 seconds behind Shanique Browne of Jamaica who clocked 13.29 to retain her dominance in the same event she won last year.
The Federation's seventh medal was added in the U-18 Girls 800m by the 15-year-old Reanda Richards who challenged her competitors from start to finish. She made her move to the front of the pack with 200 metres to go but did not have the legs to hold that position, finishing in 2:14.48. Mary Fraser of Barbados won the even in a time of 2:11.63, and second was Chrisanni May of Jamaica in 2:13.28.
The eighth medal for St. Kitts and Nevis came through Warren Hazel’s 21.81 third place in the 200m. Winner of the event was Mario Burke of Barbados in 20.51.
Jahleel Hyde of Jamaica, the World Junior Champion in the 110 metres, showed his class as he captured the U-20 Boys event in a time of 13.36 seconds.
In the first of the 4x400m Relays, the quartet of Hannah Mills, Reanda Richards, Namibia Clavier and Kieshonna Brooks captured the Federations' fourth bronze of the day in an exciting race that saw the anchor, Brooks, clawing back into medal contention by passing the athlete from Trinidad and Tobago in a time of 3:51.26.
The winners, Jamaica, had led the race from the sound of the starter’s gun although they had a late challenge from Bahamas.
The second Relay was also won by the Jamaicans. This race was more keenly contested as Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago battled for supremacy. However, on the penultimate leg, Barbados was out of contention for gold as that country’s athlete and his Jamaican counterpart unfortunately bumped into each other, which caused the Bajan to fall.
The powerhouse Team Jamaican went on to capture the remaining two Relay events of the final day, thus completing a clean sweep of the eight Relays of the CARIFTA Games.
The Austin Sealy Award presented to the athlete adjudged the Most Outstanding by the media went to Mary Fraser of Barbados for winning the 800m, 1500m and 3000m.
SKN’s haul of nine medals surpasses their previous best of five won in 2008 when the Games were held in the Federation.
Final Medal Count:
Jamaica 41 Gold 25 Silver 19 Bronze – Total 85
Bahamas 8 Gold 13 Silver 10 Bronze – Total 31
Barbados 7 Gold 4 Silver 5 Bronze - Total 16
Trinidad & Tobago 7 Gold 8 Silver 8 Bronze – Total 22
Grenada 1 Gold 3 Silver 4 Bronze – Total 8
St.Kitts & Nevis 1 Gold 2 Silver 6 Bronze – Total 9
Suriname 1 Gold 1 Bronze – Total 2
Guadeloupe 2 Silver 3 Bronze – Total 5
British Virgin Islands 2 Silver 1 Bronze – Total 3
Bermuda 1 Silver 2 Bronze – Total 3
Martinique 1 Silver 2 Bronze – Total 3
Antigua & Barbuda 1 Silver
St. Maarten 1 Silver
St Vincent and the Grenadines 1 Silver
St Lucia 2 Bronze
Anguilla 1 Bronze
Turks & Caicos Islands 1 Bronze
Dominica 1 Bronze
Cayman Islands 1 Bronze
