BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – OFFICIALS of the St. Kitts and Nevis Amateur Athletic Association (SKNAAA) have lauded Warren Hazel after he set a new National Junior Record in the Men’s 400m, eclipsing the decade-old record at day two of the 8th IAAF World Youth Championships (WYC) in Donesk, Ukraine.
Hazel’s performance in the Semi-finals of the meet gave him an overall ranking of 10th out of the 24 athletes who competed in that round of the race.
In an interview with SKNVibes, Public Relations Office of the SKNAAA Evris Huggins expressed his pleasure at Hazel’s performance.
“We are happy with our opening rounds so far. Warren chopped an entire second off his personal best in the 400m. He placed fourth in his heat, sixth overall and is now ranked 14th in the world for youth athletes in 2013. He finished sixth overall and had advanced to the Semi-final round.”
“In the Semi-finals and running out of lane seven, the tall slender sprinter was able to finish strong with a time of 47.07, attaining fourth place and shredding almost 2/10ths of a second off his personal best achieved the previous day in his opening round.
“We also saw some remarkable performances from Sadiki Tyson and Alkronous Bridgewater. Sadiki Tyson ran heat number two against -4.9 meters per second headwind. He placed third in 11.16 seconds and did not advance to the Finals. However, a very commendable effort and a very good time, given the conditions he ran under.”
Huggins also highlighted the Association’s expectations for the remainder of the Championships.
“Our expectations are basically open. We are at least prepared for our athletes to perform personal best. Thus far, we saw Warren Hazel wipe an entire second off his personal best and broke a National Junior Record.
“We have Chloe Williams who will compete in the 100 and 200m and also Krystal Liburd who will participate in the Long Jump.”
SKNAAA President Glenville Jeffers also conveyed congratulations to Hazel.
“I commend all those who have participated so far and would like to let them know that we are proud of all of them,” Jeffers said in an email sent to Team Leader and Head Coach Donnell Esdaille.
Team St. Kitts and Nevis continued its campaign today (Jul. 12) with Alkronus Bridgewater and Sadiki Tyson in the 200m heats, but no results have been obtained at press time.
Tomorrow will see CARIFTA Bronze medallist Kristal Liburd making her WYC debut in the Female Long Jump.
