The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE newly formed UPward Performance Track Club made its presence felt along with others at the Carl Lewis High School Invitational over the weekend in Houston, Texas.

The club, formed in June, 2025 by former St Augustine's College alumnus Jason Edwards and Demaris Cash, took 10 of their 20 athletes to the meet with five of them attaining the standards for the 2026 CARIFTA Games in Grenada over the Easter holiday weekend.

Leading the way was Caitlyn Smith, an 11th grader at SAC, who won the triple jump with a leap of 12.05 metres, surpassing the CARIFTA standard.

Taree Forbes, a ninth grader at SAC as well, won the 60m dash, upsetting her older competitors in the 11th and 12th grades with a sizzling time of 7.54. She also competed in the long jump, placing third with a leap of 5.71m for a CARIFTA-qualifying mark.

Three teammates contested the boys’ triple with Carlin Archer heading the list with second  place with 14.58m; Landon Moxey was third (14.55m) and Demian Brice came in fifth (14.52m) as they all achieved the CARIFTA-qualifying mark.

"The performances were exceptional. This was their season opener," said Edwards, who also serves as the athletic director at SAC.

"If I’m not mistaken, we etched our name in the history books as the first Bahamian track club to win events at this prestigious indoor meet. We managed to do it twice."

Edwards noted that all of their athletes performed well and we have to also acknowledge all of those athletes who achieved personal best performances. 

They included Savannah Fraser, Talise and Tylen Musgrove and Jayla Knowles. 

"This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our parents and team manager, who were diligently working behind the scenes," Edwards said. "The UPward Performance coaching staff are extremely proud of this group."

Edwards also commended all the other Bahamian athletes who participated in the meet, including the Red-Line Athletics Track Club's Darvinique Dean, Brianna Bootle, Alexis Roberts and Syrmiah Crawley. 

"The future definitely looks bright," he summed up.

The club is one of the latest to register under the banner of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations.