By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
SHE may be short in stature, but versatile sprinter/hurdler Denisha Cartwright continues to make an impact on the Mavericks women’s track and field programme at Minnesota State.
Over the weekend at the Mt SAC, Cartwright not only won her speciality in the 100 metres hurdles final in a time of 13.04 seconds after posting the second fastest qualifying time of 13.52. The performance came after she lowered her school record from 23.29 to 23.18 in the 200m and ran 11.62 in the 100m at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
“Things went the way I expected,” said Cartwright, a former volleyball player. “I was thinking about last year when I didn’t make finals and this year I was really focused on going out there and doing my best and not really thinking about any time.
“I just went out there and did what I had to do and when the coach told me to execute, I did it. I felt the difference when I competed.”
As an added bonus at the Mt SAC Relays, Cartwright also ran the second leg for Minnesota State in the 4 x 400m relay, splitting a 53 as they turned in third in their heat and finished 11th overall in 3:45.23.
“I did my part,” said Cartwright, who served notice that she’s putting in her bid for a shot at the relay teams for the Bahamas this year. “I have a few open 400 metres that I have to run this season to get in my endurance work so I can better my 200.
“If I really train for the 400, they will be in trouble.”
Cartwright, 23, said after getting in the experience of competing at the Commonwealth Games last year in Birmingham, England, she’s more hungry to test her skills at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Championships in June and hopefully get a chance to compete at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August, even if it’s just on the relay team.
“Even though the collegiate season is long, once we are continuing to train after the nationals is over, I feel I can be ready to compete at the international level,” Cartwright said. “This summer, I’m thinking about whether I will stay here at school and train or I will come home and train with coach Rupert Gardiner.
“I want to give it a shot at the World Championships. It won’t hurt to try.”
While the relays are her options, Cartwright said she will definitely be making a push at the 100m hurdles, despite the fact that she has some contenders in national record holder Devynne Charlton, collegian Charisma Taylor and Sasha Wells, just to name a few.
“I am looking forward to seeing how well I can compete against them,” she stated.
In the meantime, Cartwright said she’s also concentrating on completing her studies in applied health science with health administration as she looks forward to graduating either in spring 2024 or fall 2023.
“It’s tough with these professors, but that comes with the challenge of being a student-athlete. You have to get the job done,” she said.
And at 5-feet, one-inch, Cartwright also has somewhat of a challenge competing against the much taller opponents. But so far, she has been solid as a rock.
“Since I am short, my approach might be a little different for the hurdles than a taller person, but it’s not a disadvantage being short,” she stressed.
In offering some words of advice to the younger athletes competing in the sport, Cartwright told them to just keep their heads up and don’t allow anyone to tell them they can’t achieve their goals.
The 2018 CARIFTA team member, who ran the under-20 girls 100 and in the 4 x 100m where the team captured the silver, said she was impressed with the performances she witnessed at the games over the Easter holiday weekend, although she was a bit concerned about all of the disqualifications and races being re-ran. “But the performances were impressive. We have some really great athletes coming up,” she pointed out.
“I just want to encourage them to keep going.”
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