The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

With the focus on getting some of his talented senior members off to school on athletic scholarships, coach Tito Moss took a 20-member team to the Texas A&M Indoor High School Track and Field Meet over the weekend.

Also at the meet on Saturday on the campus of the Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, Moss’ collegian daughter Megan Moss, a junior at the University of Kentucky, lowered her personal best time of of 57.85 seconds indoors to 54.37 in the women’s open 400 metres.

Four members of the Red-Line Athletics team made it to the finals of their respective events.

Brandon Hutchinson had the highest position, placing fifth out of a field of 22 competitors in the boys’ triple jump with a personal best leap of 14.05 metres or 46-feet, 1 ¼-inches. Shimar Bain was sixth out of 288 competitors in the boys’ 200 in 21.69, Jaylin Plakaris was eighth in a line-up of 158 competitors in the boys’ 400m in a lifetime and indoor best of 49.50 and Otto Laing came in 10th out of 258 competitors in the boys’ 60m in a personal best of 7.05.

Moss, who travelled along with coaches Earl Rahming and Rachante Colebrook and some of the parents, said the meet was a good indication of where the athletes are, considering the fact that there is very little or no events being staged in the Bahamas due to COVID-19.

“With the uncertainty we are facing with COVID- 19, I just want to give my seniors an opportunity to compete with other seniors in an indoor environment,” Moss said. “We try to do this every season.

“But we felt good about their performances in this meet. They shoed up and showed off. So we were happy with that. We had about 12 of them who turned in personal best performances and four of them made finals out of the 20 kids we took on this trip.”

In some of the other results posted, Lacarthea Cooper got 28th in the girls’ 400m in 59.06 just ahead of Nya Wright, who was 29th in 59.25, while Kennedi Knowles was 65 in 1:02.53 and Shanai Sweeting was 82nd in 1:03.69.

Sara Williams was 48th in the girls’ 800m in 2:33.97, Joshua Miller was 34th in the boys’ 200m in 22.52, Laing came in 40th in 22.59, Tumani Skinner was 48th in 22.72, Jonathon Fowler was 73rd in 23.03 and Ryand Forbes was 78th in 23.12.

Fowler was also 32nd in the boys’ 60m in 7.13, Miller was 34th in 7.13, Bain was tied for 40th in 7.15, Pakaris was 71 in 7.23, Skinner was 115th in 7.36, Quinton Rolle was 148th in 7.46 and Morgan Moss 201st in 7.59.

Red-Line Athletics also entered two teams in the boys’ 4 x 400m relay with the first team placing sixth in 3:26.19.

The other team finished 13th in 3:30.52. They also had a girls’ 4 x 400m relay team that was 13th in 4:02.84.

In February, Moss said they are expected to travel to Kentucky to once again compete in the University of Kentucky’s High School Invitational where the senior athletes can be placed in the spotlight to be viewed by coaches for athletic scholarships.

“I have 12 athletes graduating this year and I want to get them off to school,” Moss said. “We just want to give them the opportunities with the uncertainties that we are faced with here in the Bahamas without track and field season.

“We will have to go overseas so that these athletes can get the exposure that they need to get off to college.”

On the local stage, Moss said their Red-Line Athletics Track Meet, which was scheduled for this month, will be postponed until March. He noted that the Ministry of Health has denied the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ the opportunity to stage any meets at this time because of the rise of COVID-19 cases in the country.

The BAAA had to postpone its Odd Distance Track Meet on Saturday. The meet is normally used as the pacesetter for the BAAA’s ensuing season.

It’s not known if the BAAA will reschedule the meet or move along with its programme as it prepares athletes for the return of the CARIFTA Games in Jamaica over the Easter holiday weekend.