The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AS one of the top local track clubs in the country, the coaching staff of the Red-Line Athletics is quite pleased with the 10 members selected to represent the Bahamas on the 80-member team for the Oaktree Medical Center’s 50th CARIFTA Games.

Selected from Red-Line Athletics are Darvinique Dean, Bayli Major, Madison Moss in the under-17 girls division, Quinton Rolle and Eagan Neely in the under-17 boys, Nya Wright in the under-20 girls and Clinton Laguerre, Johnathan Fowler, Tumani Skinner and collegian Shimar Bain in the under-20 boys.

Dean, who switched her focus from the sprints to the hurdles, said she was pleased to have been given a chance to compete in both the 400m and 400m hurdles in the under-17 girls division.

“I feel very excited with this being my first-year under-17,” said the 15-year-old ninth grader at St Augustine’s College. “I did a very good job at the final trials, which was a result of the way my season has gone.

“I’m hoping to PR and medal. I want to come first, but if I don’t, I will go for the silver or the bronze. I just want to get one.”

As for the team, Dean said everybody has been working hard so she’s confident that the Bahamas will be represented across the board in all of the divisions.

Fowler, an 18-year-old 12th grader at SAC, will be a part of the under-20 boys 4 x 100m relay pool in his first appearance at CARIFTA.

“I’m extremely excited and extremely grateful and blessed to be here and to be in this position,” Fowler said. “I just want to be able to do my best and put my best foot forward.”

Looking at the team, Fowler said there are athletes entered in just about every event, which should bolster the Bahamas’ chance to excel.

Major, a 15-year-old 10th grader at SAC, said although this is her first rodeo, she’s just as thrilled as everybody else to be representing the country at home.

“I want to go out there and give it my all and hopefully win a gold medal,” she said. “I am just looking forward to doing my PR and performing very well in this meet.”

Based on what she’s seen, Major said all of the athletes have worked extremely hard to get on the team, so she’s confident that the Bahamas will put on a very good showing.

Skinner, who considers himself to be one of the fastest quarter-milers in the country, will be in for an encore on the national team, having made his first CARIFTA squad last year.

“Being back on the team is just a wonderful experience,” he stated. “I was advised by our coaches to just continue training and I rose to the occasion and made the team again.”

To the new members on the CARIFTA team, Skinner recommended that they “eat right, get to bed on time and be ready to saw off Jamaica head.”

He said he’s looking forward to running a 47 split on both the under-20 boys 4 x 400m and the mixed 4 x 400m relay teams.

As for Team Bahamas, Skinner said it’s a “powerful team” and he’s confident that the Bahamas “could win the whole thing. Watch out Jamaica.”

For 14-year-old Neely, who is just in the eighth grade at SAC, making the team at such a young age is more than he could bargain for. But he promised to make the Bahamas very proud.

“It’s very breath-taking for me, being so much,” Nelly admitted. “Performing at the national level is going to be a very good experience for me. I just want to get a feeling of what to expect as I get older.”

And on his assessment of Team Bahamas, Neely said they have alot of athletes who are performing very well, so he’s eager to see how well everyone does.

Head coach Tito Moss, who won’t be a part of Team Bahamas, but will serve as the assistant to meet director David Charlton, said this year they doubled their number from five to 10 making the team.

“We are very elated. We have six hurdlers and four quarter-milers that make up Team Bahamas,” Moss pointed out.

“I’m really pleased with the work that our coaching staff has done. These kids worked hard and they made the team. So I’m really pleased.”

With seven of their team making their initial appearance at the games, Moss said they just want to encourage the athletes to focus on their execution and not worry about what the other countries are doing.

“If you are locked in on what you have to do, it will get you through,” he said. “We are trying to get them to not allow the moment to be too big for themselves. I also want to thank coach Mike Armbrister for all the work he’s done to get the athletes to stay as injury free as possible.”

Although he’s not a member of the coaching staff for Team Bahamas, Armbrister said he will be available to assist wherever possible and whenever he’s called on to help out.

“I think we have some up-and-coming athletes who were projecting to be ready for this stage next year,” he said. “To our surprise, they qualified this year.

“Some of them made the transition from the sprints to running the hurdles and, while it was a gamble, it was a gamble that paid off. I think the coaches put in the time and effort to get the kids ready and this is a result of what they did.”