The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@ tribunemedia.net

KENNY Moxey, Jr, is one of the few athletes who qualified for more than one event at the 51st CARIFTA Games that will be held in Georgetown, Grenada, over the Easter holiday weekend.

But instead of going for the two events, Moxey, Jr, has indicated that he will just concentrate in the octathlon, which is comprised of eight events combined, as opposed to doing it along with the pole vault.

On Sunday at the original Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium as the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations concluded its three days of final trials for the CARIFTA team, the Queen’s College 12th grader emerged as a qualifier for the under-20 boys pole vault with his leap of 4.0m, surpassing the standard of 3.60m.

It came a day after Moxey Jr finished the gruelling two days of competition on Friday and Saturday in the octathlon in which he also surpassed the qualifying mark with a total of 5,348 points, well ahead of the qualifying mark of 4904 points.

Moxey, Jr, who just turned 17 on March 8, said in an interview after the pole vault that his plans are to concentrate on the multi-events - the octathlon - at the Kirani James Stadium, rather than entering the pole vault as well where team-mate Brenden Vanderpool is the defending champion.

“It feels amazing. I couldn’t wait to show my talent off with everything that I’ve been working on during the off season,” said Moxey, Jr, who posted performances of 11.19 seconds in the 100m, 6.18m in the long jump, 13.40m in the shot put, 50.28 in the 400m, 15.01 in the 110m hurdles, 1.90m in the high jump, 41.87m in the javelin and 5:11.82 in the 1,500m.

“I surpassed my high jump PR of 1.89 last year when I jumped 1.9 and I improved my PR in the shot put by about two metres from last year and my 100 time.”

During the trials for the octathlon, Moxey, Jr, representing the Panthers Track Club, beat out qualifiers Marco Carey of 90 degrees with 4,963 and Todd of Star Elite Athletics’ who was third with 4,640.

Lavar Deveaux, who captured the silver medal at the games here last year, finished fourth place with 4,167 points.

“I’m glad I had people to push me,” Moxey, Jr, said of the competition. “I’m glad that I have been able to compete with my people who I consider my friends. They really helped to push me.”

At CARIFTA, the 6-feet-4 Moxey, Jr, will be competing in the octathlon with Carey on the team that will feature his father, Kenny Moxey, Sr, as an assistant coach. He hopes that he will be the last man standing at the top of the podium with the gold, if not, at least a medal.