The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

National champion Serena Brown improved on her national record in the women’s discus and now she is waiting to see if her position secures her a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Brown’s performance highlighted the field events at the Blue Marlin Last Chance Track and Field Meet held last night at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Meanwhile, on the track, the Bahamas put together two solid teams in the women’s 4 x 400m and the mixed gender relay, but they too will have to wait to see if they have a lane booked at the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

The deadline for the National Olympic Committee countries to submit their teams to World Athletics and the International Olympic Committee is tonight.

But World Athletics, the governing body for track an field, has another week or so to complete their final list of entries in each event.

Brown, coming off her victory at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Championships over the weekend, threw the discus 199-feet, 10-inches or 60.92 metres on her fourth attempt to surpass her previous national record of 198-1 (60.39m).

“This whole series was good. I started off with 60m. I haven’t touched 60m all year. I started with 60.22m (197-7), so that set me in the right direction,” said Brown, who scratched her second, third and fifth attempts before she closed out the competition with 198-9 (60.59m) on her sixth try.

“It bugged me how I was a couple centimetres off 61m, but I’m happy with the results, not just to have a PR (personal record) and national record, but to have a consistent series.”

While she’s well off the Olympic standard of 63m, Brown is hoping that her performance will propel her world ranking close to the 32 competitors they invite to the games.

“This was good to have to meet where it was just narrowed down to me,” Brown said. “We didn’t have all of the little kids around, so I could concentrate a lot more on what I had to do.”

Running its first mixed gender relay since taking the initial race at the last World Relays held in the Bahamas, the team of Wendell Miller, Brianne Bethel, Doneisha Anderson and Alonzo Russell clocked 3:14.51 to win the race over Trinidad & Tobago’s team of Dwight St Hillaire, Rae-Anne Serville, Sparkle McKnight and Deon Lendore, who did 3:15.09.

“The first leg was a great experience,” said Miller, who set a new junior national record in the 400m in running second to Steven Gardiner in the Nationals on Saturday. “I’m just proud that my team-mates could do it.”

Bethel, who skipped the individual events at the Nationals to concentrate on the relays, said having qualified for Tokyo, she just wanted to do her part to help the relay team get in.

And while there have been talks about assembling this team or one close to it, the quartet of Anderson, Miller-Uibo, Megan Moss and Anthonique Strachan clocked 3:29.40 for the win over the United States’ team of Chole Fair, Na’Asha Robinson, Taylor Anderson and Zarie Dumas, who did 3:54.14.

“I just wanted to get out of the blocks well, run the back stretch and start sprinting for home from the 200m,” Anderson said. “At the 100m, I just wanted to stride home, get the baton to Shaunae to keep the relay going.”

Miller-Uibo said despite the long wait, they all went out there and did their best. “It’s a blessing. We’ve been waiting all year to finally run together and to get to do it at home was a good feeling.”

Moss said once she got the baton, she wanted to go out there and do her best and pass it on to Strachan. “It’s so amazing to run with all of these amazing women,” Moss said. “I’m just so proud of them all.”

Strachan, coming off her Olympic qualifying run in the 200m behind Miller-Uibo on Sunday, said she was just happy to be able to fill in for Bethel, who ran the mixed relay.

Also during the meet, Olympics bound Pedrya Seymour, coming off her second place finish in the Nationals behind national record holder Devynne Charlton, won the women’s 100m hurdles in 13.09. Haiti’s Mulern Jean was second in 13.24 and Sasha Wells was third in 13.36.

Taylor Anderson of the USA won the women’s 100m in 11.47, while Margaret Barrie of Sierra Leon took the 400m in 53.02. Mexico’s Mariela Real ran the final 600m of the 800m alone to finish in 2:01.97.

Andretti Bain took the men’s 400m in 49.07 over Austin Clarke (49.17). Trinidad & Tobago got a 1-2 punch from Ruebin Walters (13.59) and Mikel Thomas (13.64) in the 110m hurdles with Jeff Julmis of Haiti third in 13.84.

Andre Clarke of Jamaica captured the 400m hurdles in 49.49 with Bahamian Shakeem Smith second in 50.82.

Blue Marlin Management hosted the meet to provide athletes and teams from within the region a last chance to qualify for the Olympics before the deadline.

All of the results were not available up to press time last night.

• Photos courtesy of Derek Smith