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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
The new Thomas A. Robinson Stadium now lays dormant, silence fills the air. Contrary to its current vacant state, it exhibited a completely different atmosphere for the Easter weekend. The 42nd Carifta Games were held March 29th – April 1st, 2013 in Nassau, Bahamas. Excitement, exhilaration, eagerness, and anticipation are just a few emotions that Caribbean fans and athletes felt as the best junior athletes competed for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals that were up for grabs. The Caribbean came out for a show and that is exactly what they got! Non-stop, breath-catching performances made the trip to the stadium worth it!
As accustomed at the Carifta games, Jamaica dominated the medal count and top performances at this year’s Carifta Games. This is the 37th time that Jamaica came out on top wearing the crown for possessing the best athletes in the Caribbean. Jamaica has only been defeated five times for the entire games existence. In 1975 Bermuda won and the Bahamas defeated them four times in 1980, 1981, 1983, and 1984. The Bahamas is still hoping to regain those glory days. Jamaica captured 69 medals (28 Gold, 25 Silver, & 15 Bronze), the Bahamas was second with 31 medals (8 gold, 10 silver, & 13 Bronze), Trinidad & Tobago finished third with 20 medals (8 Gold, 2 Silver, & 10 Bronze), and Barbados was fourth with 20 medals (4 Gold, 14 Silver, & 2 Bronze). Compared to last year’s medal count of 77-Jamaica, 38-Bahamas, and 24-Trinidad, we can conclude that some of the medals were snatched from the dominate countries by the smaller ones who craved it more.
To complement the hype of the superb entertainment, there were six record-shattering performances. Trinidad & Tabago’s U17 Chelsea James threw 14.48m in the Shot Put; Shanee Angol of Dominica threw 43.89m in the U17 Girls Javelin; Anderson Peters of Grenada threw 64.01m in the U17 Boys Javelin; Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas ran 22.77 in the U20 Girls 200m; Jeanelle Scheper of Saint Lucia leaped 1.87m in the U20 Girls High Jump; and the Jamaican U20 Boys ran 3:05.68 in the 4x400m relay. The smashing of records each year at the Carifta Games indicates that our Caribbean athletes’ performances are improving in Track & Field. With the current buzz about Caribbean athletes ranking on top against big nations, this is a good sign as to where our Caribbean athletes will position themselves in the future.
The Bahamas had many outstanding performances during the games. Some athletes fell short of accomplishing what they intended to do but others excelled far and beyond their expectations. Gold performances included: U17 boys 4x400m (Henri, Tyler, Kinard, & Mikhail); U20 Girls 100m Devynne Charlton; U20 Girls 400m & 200m Shaunae Miller; U20 Girls 4x100m (Devynne, Carmeisha, Shaunae, & Kieanna); U20 Boys 200m Teray Smith; U20 boys Long Jump LaQuan Nairn; and Open Boys Heptathlon Desmond Major.
Silver performances included: U17 Girls 200m Jenae Ambrose; U17 Boys 400m Kinard Rolle; U17 Boys 1,500m Benjamin Najman; U17 Boys High Jump Ken Mullings; U17 Boys Javelin Travis Ferguson; U20 Girls 100m Carmeisha Cox; U20 Boys 800m Andre Colebroke; U20 Boys High Jump LaQuan Nairn; and Open Girls Pentathlon Miquel Roach.
Bronze performances were: U17 Girls 400m Doneisha Anderson; U17 Girls 4x100m (Blayre, Jenae, Brianne, & Doneisha); U17 Girls 4x400m (Shaquana, Dreshanne, Doneisha, & Brianne); U17 Girls High Jump Celine Thompson; U17 Girls Long Jump Andira Ferguson, U17 Girls Shot Put Brashae Wood; U17 Boys 400 Hurdles Mikhail Bethel; U17 Boys 4x100m (Shalom, Keanu, Javan, & Scharann); U20 Girls 200m Carmeisha Cox; U20 Girls 110Hurdles Devynne Charlton; U20 Girls 4x400m (Juanae, Kadeisha, Pedyra, & Rachael); U20 Boys 400m Stephen Newbold; U20 Boys 4x400m (James, Janeko, Stephen, & Andre); and Open Boys Heptathlon Charles Sealy.
The prestigious Austin Sealy award went to Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas who was a graceful standout at the Carifta games. Having to sacrifice the spotlight last year to past Austin Sealy winner and fellow teammate Anthonique Strachan, she came with a mission in mind.
She was able to secure three gold medals in the 400m, 200m, and 4x100m and remove Anthonique’s past 200m record which was set at Carifta 2012. Shaunae is the 6th Bahamian to win this award but the Bahamas has gained this title 8 times throughout the years, including 2013. Shaunae was appreciative of the Austin Sealy award, “It feels pretty good. I want to thank God for the opportunity to win it. It’s nice to be home and in my last year at Carifta to win it in front of the home crowd. It was just amazing. Carifta is always a good meet to compete in, but to be able to come out as the most outstanding athlete is just awesome. I’m pretty happy for the award.” Shaunae is competing exceptional at the University of Georgia with a recent NCAA Indoor 400m title under her belt. The Bahamas expects and wants nothing but greatness for Shaunae as she continues on in her track journey.
Desmond Major and Charles Sealy your Gold and Bronze medalists in the Under 20 Boys Heptathlon Open.
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It was a fantastic weekend in Nassau, Bahamas for the Carifta Games. Visitors and locals came together as one Caribbean for the sole purpose of lending support to our athletes. The Carifta Games encourages Caribbean pride, at the end of the day it does not matter which country we are from, we all live similar lives and should view ourselves as one. Carifta promotes healthy competition against our neighboring countries so that preparation can be made to compete against the world. The saying is that courtesy begins at home, well, so does our Caribbean bond. These games will continue to be a benchmark in the lives of our rising stars as they are inspired to achieve what may seem impossible at first.
Athletes that competed in the Carifta Games are encouraged to keep up the good work. Those that fell short this time around, it is okay, there will be another opportunity to perform. They must look at their mistakes and learn from them for the next time. Always remember that not every time an athlete steps on the track or field they will have a great race/throw/jump. It is the passion to continue to aspire to achieve that makes an athlete the great athlete that they are. Always be your number one fan.
ALL Photos: Bahamas Athletics
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Andira Ferguson wins Silver in the Under 17 long jump.
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