The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A LANDMARK year for the Bahamas at the junior track and field level looks to continue this weekend as the BAAA partners with a major corporate sponsor.

The BAAA is slated to host the Atlantis National Junior Track and Field National Championships at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium June 8-9.

The meet will also serve as a trial for the Central America and Caribbean Junior Track and Field Championships in El Salvador June 29 to July 1.

"This year has been a phenomenal one for track and field in the Bahamas. At the junior level, the Bahamas finished second in the Carifta Games in Bermuda with 40 medals, the most in 25 years. The level of our team should make it quite competitive for the athletes to make the CAC team, it will not be easy," said BAAA public relations director Alpheus Finlayson.

"We look forward to quite a competitive meet with great performances as our athletes head to El Salvador for the Junior CAC Championships. There are some 35 countries in the CAC region. At the last championships in Santo Domingo in 2010, the Bahamas did extremely well. We therefore encourage the public to support our athletes in this weekend's championships."

Atlantis last partnered with the BAAA in the past and most recently they were the title sponsor of the 2011 Pan American junior team.

"Atlantis is happy that they can sponsor such an event as it focuses on the development of our younger athletes for the future," said senior vice president of public affairs Ed Fields in a press release. "Atlantis hopes that it can continue to play a role in this regard."

Former Olympic champion and head coach of TWD Athletics, Tonique Williams-Darling, outlined some of the big matchups expected to take place over the course of the meet.

"We went to Bermuda and had a really good showing and now we get to see our Carifta medallists go head to head. This really promises to be a great competition this weekend.

"In the 100m, we will have Anthonique Strachan, our Carifta gold medallist in the 100m and 200m, and she will be contesting the 100m against persons like Jenae Ambrose and Carmeisha Cox.

"In the field events, we will have names like Danielle Gibson contesting the long jump and the high jump. She was a Carifta gold medallist in the long jump and she will be contesting the high jump against Lenecia Beneby, also a Carifta contender," she said.

"In the men's division, we have Julian Munroe out of Grand Bahama and in the 400m he will be looking to compete against O'Jay Ferguson, ranked eighth in the world for juniors in the event.

"In the 100m, we will be looking at persons like Blake Bartlett, Jonathan Farquharson, Tre Smith, Shane Jones from Moore's Island looking for spots in that event. They all have the standard and there are only two spots.

"In the triple jump, we have the Collie-Minns twins going head to head. Latario is ranked second in the world for juniors and a Carifta gold medallist, while Lathone is ranked 10th in the world."

In an Olympic year, Willams-Darling encouraged the general public to take stock in the young athletes at the junior level as they continue to ascend to represent the country in the senior ranks.

"We have some 35 odd qualifiers so far and I know with the level of competition we have this weekend we expect so many more. It is shaping up to be an awesome weekend," she said.

"This is the place to be and we are encouraging all Bahamians to come out and support. A lot of times, Bahamians only come out for the Olympic trials but these are our future Olympians and we really want to see them before they get to the senior stage."

Harrison Petty, a member of the BAAA public relations committee, called the meet an early test for athletes looking to peak on the heels of a successful season so far this year.

"The qualifying standards in some events are higher than the Carifta standards such as the U-17 Boys 100m, which is 11.00 for Carifta and 10.90s for Jr CAC and the U-20 Boys 400m which is 48.15 for Carifta and 47.94s for Jr CAC," he said.

"Our athletes will have to step up their performances as the CAC Championships will be contested by an additional nine Central American countries, including sports powers Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia.

"We consider Jamaica and Cuba the teams with the most competition. Based on improved performances since Carifta, our team of junior sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers should perform exceptionally well at the CAC Championships."

Petty reiterated that the appeal of this weekend's meet will be the head-to-head competition between the elite level junior athletes looking to secure future national team berths.

He said the CAC Championships will be a stepping stone for our top performing junior athletes who are preparing to compete at the Junior World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, July 10-15.

"This meet will produce much excitement as there are some athletes that have already met the qualifying standards. Head-to-head competition at the championship will determine who are the best athletes in each event."