The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AT least four athletes surpassed the qualifying standards for the CARIFTA Games and Grand Bahama Power Track Club made their presence felt as the Club Monica Track Classic took centre stage at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium over the weekend.

Surpassing the qualifying standards for CARIFTA were Daejha Moss of Club Monica in the under-18 girls high jump with a leap of 1.65m or 5-feet, 5-inches, while Serena Brown of Throwers Inc did the mark twice in the shot put with 13.60 metres or 44-feet, 7 1/2-inches and in the discus with 37.56m (123-2).

On the boys’ side, Donovan Storr of Heats Athletics out of South Andros qualified in the under-18 boys 200m in 21.65 seconds and Perry Adderley posted double marks in the shot put (15.86m/52-0 1/2) and the discus (46.63m/153-0).

In the under-20 boys’ division, Dedro Clarke of Swift Athletics qualified in the under-20 boys 200m in 21.15.

Meet director Dianne Woodside said they had a fantastic meet and the fans really enjoyed themsevles.

“We did a re-seeding of the meet, making sure that all of the events were stacked and that helped us to bring the best out of our athletes,” said Woodside, who also serves as the head coach for Club Monica. “This was good preparation for the athletes as they get ready for Carifta. We also had a number of qualifiers, so we were pleased to see the athletes come together and compete at such a high level of competition. We also had athletes rom Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera and Exuma and so it was good to have them here and we tried to help them out in as much as we could for them to be here to compete.”

The Grand Bahama Power Athletics produced some of the highlights of the meet as they literally dominated on the track with most of their success coming in races from the 200 to the 800m.

Antonia Strachan of the Bahamas Speed Dynamics got a big win in the under-16 girls 800m when she won the race in 2:33.15 to hold off defending champion Marissa White of Club Monica, who did 2:33.72.

“It was good. It was a tough race, but I didn’t want to let my coach down with all of the hard work that we put in,” said Strachan, a 14-year-old grade nine student at Queen’s College. “I was hoping to break the meet record, but I was pleased with the performance.”

Quanisha Marshall pulled off the girls’ under-18 800m title in 2:26.92 ahead of Shannon Gabbrielle of the Bahamas High Performance in 2:37.75. Marshall’s teammate Tanajah Grant was third in 2:42.48.

“It was great. I was hoping to run faster, but I was pleased that I won,” said Marshall, a 15-year-old 10th grader at Bishop Michael Eldon. “I had my partner in that, so I knew I had to run very fast to win.”

Shaquania Dorsett, also of Grand Bahama Power, won the under-20 girls’ race in 2:17.82 after she took the 400m in 58.14.

“It was good. It was a nice race. I wanted to take the lead from the break and keep it and that was what I did,” said Dorsett, a 17-year-old graduate of Sinland Lutheran. “The competition was very good. I just have to continue training to try and qualify to make the team.”

On the boys’ side, Tyrece Simms, also of Grand Bahama Power, was the winner of the 16-and-under race in 2:07.60 as they pulled off a 1-2-3 sweep with teammates Byrant Lowe (2:09.16) and Kino Dean (2:10.85).

“It feels good. I executed my plan very well,” said Simms, a 14-year-old ninth grader at Sister Mary. “It was nice to have your teammates in there. They gave me a lot of competition.”

Glen Knowles of Club Monica clocked 2:08.41 to snatch the victory in the under-18 boys race as D’Soraji Deleveaux of Spirit of Excellence came in second in 2:09.05 and Dorian Gray of Bahamas Speed Dynamics got third in 2:09.60.

“It was pretty intense becaus it was very windy,” said Knowles, a 15-year-old grade 10 student at St Augustine’s College. “The competition was good. I really enjoyed it.”

Winning the under-20 boys’ two-lap race was Rocky Louis of Moores Island in 1:56.41. Grand Bahama Power’s Jervis Delancy was second in 2:01.45. “The race was pretty good and pretty fast. On the back stretch, you had a lot of wind, so you really had to fight through it,” said Louis, who was hoping to run at least 1:55.

Louis, who turned 19 on January 10, said it was still good for him to pull off the victory.

Another highlight of the meet came from ‘Golden Knight’ Ramon Miller. Competing for the Bahamas Tigers, Miller easily won the 800m in 2:03.90 as he made his return after sitting out with an injury last year. His nearest rival was Dominic Collie of Alliance Athletics in 2:15.83.

The meet also produced a number of multiple winners in the various age groups.

• Girls under-8 - Darvinique Dean of Kids Athletics posted a double victory in the 200m in 16.42 and the long jump with 2.57m. Synia Lockhart of Sun Blazers won the 75m in 11.88.

• Girls under-10 - Sarah Hepburn of Fast Forward was also a double winner in the 100m in 14.14 and the 200m in 29.60, while Chelsee Chea of Beginners Track won the long jump with 2.80m.

• Girls under-12 - Lydia Clarke, DTSP, in the 100m in 13.91; Shaunece Miller, Speed Kids Track, in the 200m in 29.89 and N’Kel Russell, X-Treme Athletics, in the long jump with 3.54m.

• Girls under-14 - Megan Moss of Club Monica was a triple champion in the 100m in 12.48, the 200m in 25.93 and the 75m hurdles in 12.89. Sandra Mitchell, Heats Athletics, won the 400m in 1:04.21 and Dejanique Turnquest, Fast Forward, winner of the long jump with 4.58m.

• Girls under-16 - Doneisha Anderson of TWD Athletics, Shania Darrell of Club Monica and Dachye Stubbs were all double winners. While Anderson took the 200m in 24.69 and the 400m in 57.69; Darrell captured the 80m hurdles in 12.47 and the 300m hurdles in 54.19 and Stubbs took the shot put with 10.79m and the discus with 31.91m.

Kennedy Culmer of the Grand Bahama Power won the 100m in 12.27; Amina Forbes of Leap of Faith took the high jump with 1.47m and Amelia Peterson of Leap of Faith was the winner of the long jump with 5.07m. Taylor Walters, unattached, won the javelin with 33.34m.

• Girls under-18 - Brianna Bethel of Grand Bahama cleaned up in the sprints, taking the 100m in 11.92; the 200m in 24.29 and the 400m in 1:01.53. Charisma Taylor of Club Monica won the long jump with 5.47m and Mechael Russell, unattached, threw the javelin 33.82m for her victory, while Kenisha Stubbs won the 400m hurdles in 1:09.60.

• Girls under-20 - Jenae Ambrose of Club Monica doubled up in the 100m in 11.90 and the 200m in 24.48 and Brendia Ferguson of Club Monica picked up a pair of victories in the shot put with 10.79m and the javelin with 36.10m.

Johnique David, of Integrated Sports, ran the 1,500m in 6:12.63; Janika Collie of the Striders did the 100m hurdles in 18.01; Dreshanae Rolle, unattached, took the 400m hurdles in 1:02.34; Leap of Faith’s Celine Thompson did the high jump in 1.57m; Jeorjette Williams of X-Treme Athletics did 4.68m in the long jump and Tahjnee Thurston of RC Athletics in the discus with 36.16m.

• Open division saw Ivanique Kemp of Club Monica doubling up in the 200m in 24.89 and the 100m hurdles in 13.39. V’Alonee Robinson of Club Monica took the long jump with 5.99m; Felicia Saunders won the 400m in 1:04.87. Deneisha Bagot of the College of the Bahamas won the high jump with 1.52m.

• Boys under-8 - Kion Burrows won the 75m in 11.88; Cai Maura, Fast Forward, won the 100m in 17.01 and Zaiah Henfield of the Rocks Athletics took the long jump with 2.89m.

• Boys under-10 - Tumaini Skinner of the Striders won the 100m in 14.52; Tyrone Conliffe, Rocks Athletics, won the 200m in 30.37 and Whitfield Chang, St John’s College, won the long jump with 3.32m.

• Boys under-10 - Otto Laing, High Performance, won the 100m in 13.30, the 200m in 26.77 and the long jump with 4.62m.

• Boys under-14 - Nathan Moss, Fast Forward, won the 100m in 11.81; Kendal Culmer of Grand Bahama Power won the 200m in 25.27; Raymond Oriakhi, Club Monica, won the 400m in 1:01.71 and Latrell Taylor took the long jump with 5.23m.

• Boys under-16 - Godfrey Arthur, High Performance, won the 100m in a blazing time of 10.94, while Denvaughn Whymns, Club Monica, picked up a double in the 200m in 22.52 and the 100m hurdles in 13.41. Kino Dean, Grand Bahama Power, took the 400m in 51.91; Oscar Smith, SunBlazers, won the 400m hurdles in  1:10.28.

Benjamin Clarke, X-Treme Athletics, won the high jump with 1.85m; Christopher Johnson, also from X-Treme Athletics, took the long jump with 6.03m; Michael Adderley, Roadrunners, threw 13.12m in the shot put; Daxon Joseph, Club Monica, took the discus with 34.82m and Tyson Moss, SunBlazers, got the javelin with 27.57m.

• Boys under-18 - Cameron Oliver, Fast Forward, won the 100m in 10.92; Lynado Campbell of Grand Bahama Power won the 400m in 52.20; Ronald Kemp, No Limit Track Club, won the 1,500m in 4:28.49. On the field, Stony Duncanson, Leap of Faith, won the high jump with 1.77m; Michael Butler, Jumpers Inc., won the triple jump with 12.51m and Branson Rolle, High Performance, took the javelin with 51,92m.

• Boys under-20 - Samson Colebrooke, Swift Athlwetics, won the 100m in 10.58, while Xavier Coakley, of Club Monica, posted a double victory in the 110m hurdles in 14.12 and the 400m hurdles in 54.55. Justin Pinder, unattached, won the 400m in 50.92 and Kendron Adderley, Swift Athletics, took the 1,500m in 4:31.51.

Shanthon Simms, Jumpers Inc, picked up a pair of victories in the long jump (6.44m) and the triple jump (13.99m) and Anton Lightbourne, Throwers Inc, won both the shot put (14.25m) and the discus (34.67m). Blayre Fernander, Leap of Faith, won the high jump with 1.96m.

• Open men - Star Elite shined in the sprints as Trevor Greene won the 100m in 10.57; Timothy Newbold took the 200m in 21.57 and Stephen Newbold, 49.41, in the 400m. Durell Williams, Jumpers Inc, won the long jump (6.89m).