The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE three qualifiers for the 2016 Olympic Games made sure that their trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, remained intact as they pulled off the top three spots in the men’s high jump at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Championships.

Defending champion Ryan Ingraham, the only member of the field of competitors who didn’t make the Olympic cut of 2.28 metres or 7-feet, 5 ¾-inches, bowed out at 2.15m (7-0 1/2) and had to watch as a new champion was crowned.

Donald Thomas, the top performer so far this year, regained the national title by soaring 2.27m (7-5 ¼) to hold off his Rio bound team-mates Jamal Wilson and Trevor Barry, who came in second and third respectively as they both cleared 2.25m (7-4 ½).

While the event lived up to its advanced billing, Thomas asked why the BAAA continues to put their competition as the first on the schedule at 5pm when most of the people are just starting to trickle into the stadium.

“We are the only field event that normally has three qualifiers for any of the major competition and they put us on so early on the programme,” Thomas said. “The high jump goes off on energy and if there isn’t anyone in the stands, the clap that we require is minimum.”

The spotlight was on the men’s triple jump and both the women and men’s long jumps where Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands, Bianca ‘BB’ Stuart and Raymond Higgs prevailed as champions.

Thomas, however, tried to stretch out the competition, but by the time he tried to get into his groove, he was the only competitor left, but he just wanted to take care of business.

“I came home to save my spot on the Olympic team,” he said. “Thank God I did. We have a good core of jumpers. We have three jumpers who are ranked in the top 25 in the world, so I knew it was going to be competitive, so I just wanted to make sure that I was right there with them.”

After his performance, Thomas said the “sky is the limit” in terms of how high he can fly when he gets to Rio, adding that “this is what I live for.”

All through his career, Jamal Wilson was preparing for this moment and now it’s finally here. He can finally go to the Olympics to represent his country at the highest international competition on the planet.

“It feels awesome. Feel like a dream come through,” he stated. “Feel like all of the hard work that I put in has finally paid off. I’m here, getting ready to go to Rio.”

As for the competition, Wilson said it was nerve wrecking at first, but although he encountered some problems, he’s confident that he and coach Ronald Cartwright will make the necessary adjustments before the games.

“I expect us all to make the final and battle for the podium in Rio,” he said. “It’s going to be awesome. I wouldn’t pick anybody else that I would rather go with. Me, Trevor and Donald have been travelling all year. I know Ryan fell short, but he’s still young and he still has a lot in him moving forward.”

Critiquing his performance, Wilson said he felt he passed the test with a B-plus grade.

Cartwright said he felt that Wilson could have jumped higher as he was doing in Europe in the meets he competed in prior to the nationals.

“I’ve seen the things we have to work on and from here on in, I think he will just get some better heights,” he said. “If he’s not ready, I don’t know when he will be.”

Talking about getting ready, Barry said it wasn’t his best, but he can rectify the problem before he goes to Rio.

“I know I can jump higher. There are some things that I need to work on,” he said. “On a few jumps, I had some problems with my approach, but if I can get that worked out, I will be ready to compete in Rio.

“The high jump has always been a strong event for us and I expect that we will put on a show. I’m just glad to be a part of the team going. I’m confident that I will be ready to improve on my performance here when I get there.”

His coach Keith Parker said Barry’s problem was his approach to the bar and that is something that can easily be corrected. He said he’s looking forward to seeing him. Thomas and Wilson go head-to-head with the rest of the world in Rio.

He anticipated some competition from reigning NCAA champion Latario Collie, but Leevan Sands had to settle for just a match-up with twin brother Lathone Minns.

In the end, Sands soared 16.60m (54-5 ½) to claim the title. He felt if he had the other Minns in the pit, he would have been more motivated to surpass the Olympic standard of 16.85m (55-3 ½) that they both have achieved already to book their ticket to Rio.

“It’s been a long week. I’ve been promoting for this event and I’ve been promoting for another event we (cousin Sosa Man) are putting on tonight. I’ve been to every radio station promoting. I’m just glad to get this part of it done,” he said.

“The crowd was a small crowd, but they were in to it, so I can’t complain about that. I was hoping that Latario would have been here to push me more, but he had an ankle problem. The guys did their best. I had fun and I came out with the win as national champion for 2016.”

Minns, coming off his stellar performance as the sixth Bahamian to win the NCAA men’s triple jump title, suffered an ankle injury on his second attempt and didn’t jump anymore. He skipped the nationals to allow for the injury to properly heal.

Lathone Minns, one of two other Bahamians in the historic NCAA final, did 16m (52-6) for second on Saturday. Holland Martin came in third with 15.68m (51-5 ½).  

Sands, incidentally, was also named as the new athletes’ representative at the annual general meeting with the BAAA earlier that day.

“It means a lot. I think they chose the right person. I didn’t campaign for it. It was given to me,” he said. “I guess the people know that I’m the type of person who is going to look out for the athletes and be fair.

“I’m not going to pick sides. There’s a lot of politics going on in the administration, but they know that I’m not going to pick sides. I don’t think anyone can sway me away from my beliefs. I think I will be everything possible for the betterment of the athletes.”

Meanwhile, Stuart successfully defended her women’s long jump title with her winning wind-aided leap of 6.66m (21-10 1/4). Andira Ferguson, the only other competitor, came in second with 5.67m (18-7 ¼).Stuart, who has already surpassed the Olympic standard of 6.50m (21-4), said she did the best she could under the circumstances.

“It didn’t go as well as I expected it go, but I’m glad that I came out healthy,” Stuart said. “I was having some issues with my run up and so I was a little off in the run, but I started to get going on the last three attempts and I was too late.”

Stuart said she’s just going to focus on getting ready for Rio.                      

In the men’s long jump, two former national team-mates went head-to-head with Raymond Higgs posting the best mark of 7.54m (24-9) to snatch the national title over Rudon Bastian, who did 7.50m (24-7 ¼). Estonian Ubio Maicel, one of the visiting athletes, did 7.44m (24-5) for third.The Olympic standard was 8.05m (26-5).

The women’s triple jump also had a limited field with former collegian Tamara Myers repeating as champion with 13.60m (44-7 ½) to hold off current collegian Danielle Gibson, who did 13.15m (43-1 ¾) for second. The Olympic cut was 14.15m (46-5 ¼).