The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

DREXEL Maycock came home from school in Jamaica and turned in a dominating performance at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ final trials for the CARIFTA Games.

Maycock, 19, pulled of a double dose of victory in qualifying for the trip to St Kitts and Nevis over the Easter holiday weekend when he clinched the under-20 boys’ discus with a heave of 52.68 metres or 172-feet, 0-inches on day one on Friday before he came back on Saturday during the final day to toss the shot put with a toss of 15.88m (52-1 1/4).

In the shot put, Anthon Lightbourne came in second with 14.95m (49-00 3/4) and Bradley Cooper Jr got third with 14.79m (48-06 1/4) as they watched Maycock post a new junior national record in the process.

“I haven’t been throwing the shot put for a while because I throw the discus more than anything else,” Maycock said. “My coach (Julian Robinson) just told me to go into the event and so I was very pleased with the performance. I know I can still throw further than I did, so I have to go back to Jamaica and get ready for Carifta.”

Maycock, who returned to Jamaica on Monday, said he knew that if he had a little more competition, he would have been able to perform much better. He now has to wait until he goes to St Kitts and Nevis and takes advantage of the competition.

“The level of competition here has to step up,” said Maycock, who noted that he was pleased to see that there was a resurgence in the training programme by the local coaches to get more throwers up to the standard to compete on the Carifta team this year. “I was hoping that at least one more competitor would have qualified in my division.

This is his last year in high school and while the Carifta Games is on the horizon, Maycock said he also has his sights set on competing at the Junior Pan Am Championships.

“Me and my teammates have been training because while I had to come here for the CARIFTA trials, they have the Boys and Girls Championships this week in Jamaica,” said Maycock, who will not be eligible to compete in the latter meet this year because of the fact that he switched schools.

“I’m not disappointed that I wont get to compete in the meet this year. I am still training with the athletes, so it is still helping me out tremendously. Hopefully I will be ready to compete against some of these same competitors from Jamaica when the games get underway.”

During the course of the year, Maycock switched schools and he is now attending Calibar High, an all-male secondary school in Kingston which has benefitted him greatly because he’s in an environment where he feels he has some of the best throwers in the country to train with.

The proof in the pudding for Maycock was when he came home and dominated the two events. Now he’s looking forward to taking it to another level when he goes to St Kitts and Nevis. He’s hoping that he can add to the three medals he’s won over the previous four appearances he has made at the top regional junior meet.

At last year’s CARIFTA Games in Martinique, Maycock picked up a bronze in the discus with a toss of 49.31m (161-9). His performance at the Carifta trials was better than the gold medal of 52.00m (170-7) by Jamaica’s Glefford Watson.