BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH more than a dozen qualifying for the CARIFTA Games two Sunday’s ago (Feb. 9), athletes from St. Kitts and Nevis returned to the track at the Silver Jubilee Stadium on Sunday (Feb. 16), seeking to build on past performances while endeavouring to join the ranks of those already qualified.
Sunday saw another large athlete turnout with more than 300 individuals competing as well as a large contingent of track and field fans.
Both senior and junior athletes turned in some strong performances as they aimed to gained qualification for the various meets throughout the year.
However, an additional two athletes attained CARIFTA qualification in the persons of Wayne Mathew in the Long Jump and Ashika Williams in the Shotput.
The Development meet also saw senior national athletes Delwayne Delaney winning the 200m and Alistair Clarke - a known 200m and 100m specialist - won the 400m in a 50.28 seconds time. Clarke’s performance during the race was a surprise to the spectators, given his speciality.
President of the St. Kitts Amateur Athletic Association (SKNAAA) Glenville Jeffers expressed his amazement at the growth of the Development Meets.
“We started off on the grass tracks in Sandy Point in Verchilds and Saddlers, we could see the numbers climbing but I was really shocked last week Sunday when we reached the stadium and seeing 350 plus athletes.”
He also acknowledged the participation of schools and welcomed the early competition among the student athletes.
“We are seeing some improvements from the Cayon side. We saw Cayon High having a collection of athletes and that is good because we can’t be hiding the athletes. They need to get that competition know-how and to see the high schools bringing out the athletes and a number of the primary schools as well.”
He also stated that the large turn-outs at the meets has become overwhelming for the officials but claimed it was still a good situation.
“Now we have a back-to-back large turn out. Let me say it is a good thing and it is overwhelming us in terms of officiating. Officials tend to come when there are the big meets but they really need to come now for the development meets.”
