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| Alika Morgan |
Local long distance queen, Alika Morgan extended her dominance to the region last Sunday when she won the women's open category at the CARICOM 10k road race in St. Kitts.
Morgan bettered her second place performance last year by crossing the finish line first in a time of 44: 12. The fifteen-year-old was the first woman across the line and 12th overall.
Despite not near her personal best of 38:20 at last year's CARICOM meet, Morgan is in high spirits with the recognition as the CARICOM 10k women's champion.
The shy, soft spoken athlete told Stabroek Sport that the condition of the course did not allow for fast times. She said the race started at 11 am in the sun and that did not help the athletes.
"I feel good," she stated when asked about the regional long distance crown she now wears. She also stated that she would like to meet President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Local male athletes Lionel D'Anrade, Kelvin Johnson and Cleveland Thomas placed 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively in the men's open category at the meet.
According to Morgan's coach and manager, Leslie Blacks, the next serious meeting for her is the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) junior championships in Trinidad.
~~Adz:Right~~However, Blacks expressed dissatisfaction with the events Morgan is being asked to run at the CAC games - the 800m and 1200m races.
The athlete's coach contends that Morgan does not do too well in those two events. Rather, he would prefer her running the 3000m because that is her event.
"They (the Athletic Association of Guyana) are saying to us that if she runs the 3000m event in the open category she will have to always compete in that category," he said.
Blacks stated that he has no problems with Morgan competing in the open category since the athlete has been doing that for sometime now.
The athlete and coach have expressed their gratitude to LIAT, Director of Sport Neil Kumar, and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph company (GT&T) for their support.
