The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AT least three athletes attained the qualifying standards for the CARIFTA Games on Saturday during the 10th Annual Road Runners Dianne Lynn Thompson Track Classic at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium.

Leading the way on the girls’ side was Serena Brown of Throwers Inc. as she picked up a double dose of victory in the under-20 discus and shot put. Her performance in the shot put, however, was a personal best as she tossed the round heavy ball 13.65 metres or 44-feet, 9 1/2-inches for a personal best as well as a CARIFTA qualifier for the games scheduled to be held in Grenada over the Easter holiday weekend.

Brown had already qualified in a previous meet in the discus, although she was under the mark in her winning throw of 46.13m (151-4) so she said she was delighted to add the shot to her list of accomplishments.

“I normally don’t do this good in shot put, but I’m improving now,” said Brown, who surpassed her previous personal best of 13.50m (44-3 1/2). “It’s getting better, so it’s looking pretty promising for CARIFTA. I normally qualify a lot for discus, so with the discus, I’m practicing more, trying to get better in both events. Today wasn’t my best in the discus, but I felt good about what I did in the shot put.”

Tiffany Hanna of Club Monica was also a double winner in the under-18 division, taking the discus with 32.08m (105-3) and the shot put with 12.72m (41-8 3/4).

On the boys’ side, Jyles Etienne, a resident of New York, came to town and turned in an impressive performance in winning the under-18 high jump with a leap of 2.11m (6-11) and a CARIFTA qualifier. His nearest rival was Benjamin Clarke of Extreme Athletics, who moved up from the under-16 division to take second place with 2.00m (6-6 3/4). Shaun Miller, another 25-year-old like Clarke, won the under-16 event with 1.70m (5-7).

Meanwhile, elite jumper Ryan Ingraham, trying to get back on track after coming off a slight injury, soared 2.16m (7-1) to clinch the open men’s high jump. Blayre Fernander of The College of the Bahamas won the under-20 title with 1.95m (6-4 3/4).

Another CARIFTA qualifier was Ramel Poitier of CV Bethel. Poitier, who broke the GSSSA record last week, cleared 3.30m (10-10) to win the under-20 men’s pole vault. His team-mate Douvankilin Rolle was second with 3.00m (9-10). Poitier had just completed the javelin where he was third with 33.38m (109-6) before he went to the pole vault. Ken Mullings, preparing for the decathlon, won the event for the Sunblazers with 44.81m (147-0). Rashon Johnson of the Road Runners was second with 44.08m (144-7).

Another outstanding performance came from Bronson Rolle of High Performance, Rolle got a double win in the under-18 boys division by taking the javelin with a toss of 55.27m (181-4). Michael Butler of Jumpers Inc. got second with 55.18m (181-0) and Edward Kemp of RC Athletics was third with 51.74 (169-9). Rolle also won the 200m 22.45 seconds to beat out a strong field that included Shon Pennerman of Silver Lightening in 22.30 and Johnathan Smith of Fast Track in 22.63 for third.

Tavonte Mott of the Star Trackers picked up a pair of victories as well in the under-20 boys division, taking the 100m in 10.71 ahead of Dunae Murray of Swift Athletics, who did 10.93 for second. Perez Knowles of Phoenix Track Club got third in 10.98. Mott also won the 110m hurdles in 13.90. He was followed by Vano Rahming of the Road Runners in 19.78.

And Kaylea Albury of the Star Trackers got her double in the under-29 girls division, She clocked 12.46 to take the 100m ahead of Krystal Mitchell, who did 12.48 and Dawayne Pratt, who did 12.57 for third. Albury also won the 100m hurdles in 14.65 over Beyonce Scott of Club Monica, who did 16.10.

Pratt, however, won the 200m in 25.88, while Mica Evans of Club Monica was second in 26.01 and Renee Brown of CR Walker got third in 26.20. Devine Parker of the Bahamas High Performance won the under-18 girls 200m in 12.20. Tanae Miller and Sasha Well of Club Monica got second and third in 12.33 and 12.42 respectively. Wells took the 100m hurdles in 14.20 with Gabrielle Gibson of the Sunblazers coming second in 14.83 and Shania Darrell of Club Monica getting third in 15.12.

In some of the other events of note, Johnathan Smith of the Fast Track won the under-18 boys 100m in 10.82; Tamara Myers of Jumpers Inc won the open women’s century in 12.03; Aisha Johnson of the DTSP Wolfpack won the under-16 century in 12.59; Adrian Curry of Club Monica was the winner of the under-16 boys straight away race in 10.98; Avery Thompson of the College of the Bahamas took the open men’s 110m hurdles in 14.89 and Verdell McIntosh of Moores Island took home the under-20 boys 200m title in 22.12.

Meet director Dexter Bodie said the meet turned out to be an exciting one from start to finish from the young under-6 competitors to those who competed in the open division.

“This was one of the biggest meets that we’ve had in a very long time with over 1,000 athletes,” he said. “We were pleased with the performances that we saw. We had a very good day, a very successful turnout and a very successful meet. I think we can look forward to improving on what we did when we host the meet again next year.”