The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A coach’s decision will only allow Shaunae Miller to come home and compete in the women’s 4 x 200 metres, but the country’s premier quarter-miler is still confident that Team Bahamas will put on a show as she makes her debut at the IAAF 2015 BTC World Relays.

Miller, 21, who sat in the stands with an injury at the initial event last year, has been named to the pool for the 4 x 200 along with Anthonique Strachan, Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson, Lanece Clarke and junior athletes Adanaca Brown and Brianna Bethel.

Last year, the team of Ferguson, Strachan, Nivea Smith and Cache Armbrister ran a national record of 1:31.31 for fourth place behind the United States (championship record of 1:29.45), Great Britain (national record of 1:29.61) and Jamaica (national record of 1:30.04).

“I’m really excited about this one. My training has been going really well and I think we have a very good team coming in,” said Miller in an interview with The Tribune. “Anthonique and Sheniqua are both doing very well and we have the youngster in (Brianna) Bethel.

“So even though I’m only doing the 4 x 2, I think the team that we have is a really good one and I’m confident that we will do very well.”

Miller, who won a bronze medal last year at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, before she got injured and had to sit out the outdoor season, said her new coach Lance Brauman is only limiting her to the 4 x 2, but she’s not going to let the decision get her down.

“I think all of the girls on the 4 x 2 are running very well,” said Miller, who over the weekend in Clermont, Florida, posted the second fastest time in the world of 22.50 seconds, that trails only American Jenna Prandini, who did 22.42 in Walnut, California, at the same time.

“I’m really excited because I think we have a very good team and based on what we are capable of doing, I think we have a very good chance of winning a medal this time.”

With the meet serving as a qualifier for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, in August and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016, many would have expected the concentration to be on both the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 400.

But the six-foot, one-inch Miller said she’s healthy and ready to run, but it’s her coach’s decision on which events she will compete in and when she will compete.

With the exception of V’Alonee Robinson, the women’s 4 x 100 metre team doesn’t have any experienced athletes who represented the Bahamas at any major event as the pool will include Bethel, Brown and another junior sensation Keianna Albury, along with Krystal Bodie and Tylar Carter.

The women’s 4 x 400m pool is made up of D’Nia Freeman, Lanece Clarke, Brianca Farrington, Christine Amertil, Katrina Seymour and junior Shaquania Dorsett from Grand Bahama.

Last year, the women’s 4 x 1 team of Robinson, Ferguson, Armbrister and Strachan had to run out of the B final, finishing second in 43.46 behind Canada, who also did a season’s best of 43.33 for the win. The USA ran a championship record of 41.88 to beat out Jamaica, who did a SB of 42.28. Trinidad & Tobago got the bronze in 42.66.

And the women’s 4 x 4 team of Clarke, Amertil, Shakeitha Henfield and Miriam Byfield ran a SB of 3:31.71 for second in the B final behind Australia, who won in 3:31.01. The USA took the A final in a championship record of 3:21.73 with Jamaica in a SB of 3:23.26 and Nigeria in third with 3:23.41, also a SB.

Miller said she would like to run on either or both the 4 x 1 and 4 x 4 teams, but she will wait until the opportunity presents itself. As for the relays, she’s just excited to know that she will be on the track competing and not in the stands watching, even if it’s just in the 4 x 2.

“I didn’t compete last year. I sat in the stands and the fans were hyped,” she said. “This year I’m expecting a whole lot more. Last year the girls did very well, even though I didn’t get to compete. I think they all did a very good job. So I’m just excited to get out there and to compete with the girls this year.

“We’re a small country, but we are powerful and we have a lot of top athletes who are ranked in the world. So I think we have a really good chance of doing very well at the meet so I want the Bahamian public to come out and support us. The home crowd should really make a difference for us.”

The relays is a fun event, compared to the World Championships and the Olympics, but Miller said they are all looking forward to coming home and putting on a show for the crowd. She noted that she hopes to make it a special one and she hopes to make up for what she missed in the initial event last year.