BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A long and challenging competition at yesterday’s (Mar. 6) National Junior Championships and Carifta Trials yielded four athletes in the field events that met this year’s Carifta qualifying standards.
The meet began sluggishly after a three hour delay stalled the first events from taking place at the Silver Jubilee Anniversary Stadium, agitating the sparse crowd that had gathered for the competition.
The tension was eventually broken, however, when Dion Samuel of St. Kitts’ Pacesetters and Nevisian Carifta medalist Tesril Nisbett both qualified for this year’s games in the Cayman Islands.
Samuel obtained the ‘B’ qualifying standard in the under-20 Boys Shot Put with a throw of 15.01m, a toss that was short of the ‘A’ standard at 16.22m.
Around the same time, Carifta bronze medalist Nisbett ensured that she should have the chance to return this year and improve her performance when she launched a first throw of 38.99m in the Girls under-20 Javelin to meet the ‘B’ standard.
Much like Samuel, Nisbett just missed her ‘A’ qualifying mark of 40.86m but looked in good form and likely to have a spot on this year’s Carifta team.
Lonzo Wilkinson Jr. also managed to step up in the under-17 Boys Shot Put and qualified alongside of Samuel to further demonstrate that St. Kitts-Nevis has made strides in the field events in recent years.
Meanwhile, Nevisian Adrian Williams of the Gladiators Track Club was the sole ‘A’ standard qualifier of the day as he surpassed the 56m mark in the Boys under-17 Javelin, easily satisfying the qualifying mark of 53.44m.
The impressive throw bodes well for Williams and the Federation heading toward this year’s Carifta Games considering that the 2009 gold medal in the event was won by Trinidad & Tobago’s Andwele Korede on a throw of 53.59m.
The sprints were less fruitful for St. Kitts-Nevis yesterday, due in part to strong headwinds that were gusting around -3.9 m/s.
For athletes such as Elisa Claxton and Vernel Hodge, the wind was a likely factor in them missing their Carifta qualifying marks, but many of the other athletes showed that they still have much training to do before the TDC/Coca-Cola/LIME Interschool Championships later this month.
Held from March 19-21, the Interschool Championships will be the last chance for the Federation’s athletes to qualify for this year’s Carifta Games, which are to be held two weeks later in the Cayman Islands.
