With the help of the Ministry of District Administration, Works, Lands and Agriculture nine athletes from Brac Athletic Club represented the Cayman Islands at the 2012 BAYTAF Classic Track & Field Meet in Tampa Florida recently.

The nine athletes achieved a club record of 15 medals, one CAC Junior Championships qualifier, one CUT Track & Field Championships qualifier and 11 personal best.

BAYTAF Classic is one of the top youth track and field meets in Florida and is held at the University of South Florida and culminates each year on Memorial Day weekend.

Hon. Juliana O’Conner-Connelly and Minister of District Administration praised the young athletes and coach Harold Sanford.

“This was a terrific accomplishment and shows the potential of our athletes when given the opportunity to compete. I would also like to thank Coach Sanford for his continued dedication to the development of sports on the Sister Islands.”

While clubs from Florida were using the meet as a qualifier for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Championships, USATF Junior Championships and USATF Junior Olympics, clubs from the Caribbean used it as a qualifier for several international meets that will take place this summer, including the CAC Junior Championships and the CUT Track & Field Championships. Bracker Ameilia Gillispie qualified for the Central America & Caribbean Junior Championships (CAC) to be held in El Salvador from June 28 – July 1^st 2012 in the female heptathlon. Ameilia became Cayman’s first female heptathlete to qualify for an international meet. The heptathlon is comprised of seven grueling competitions – 100m hurdles, 200m 800m, Shot Put, Javelin, High Jump and Long Jump – that has to be completed over two-days. Ameilia has accumulated the 4,000 points required from seven events to meet the CIAA Qualifying Standards.

Amanda Ferguson cemented her exceptional shot putting abilities by meeting the CUT Track & Field Championships qualifying mark for the third time this season.

Other notable performances for the Brac Athletic Club came from Jonathan Frederick (three medals), Matteo Lazzari (two medals), Andrew Frederick (two medals) and Ameilia Gillispie (four medals).

The Brac Athletic Club would like to thank the following sponsors: Ministry of DAWL&A, Cayman Airways Ltd, and all those individuals who helped to sponsor individual athletes. Thanks to Honorable Minister Juliana O’Connor-Conolly, Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson, Courtney Morrison, Dorra Sanford, SASI, Brac International Travel, parents and athletes of Brac Athletic Club.

Brac Athletic Club Results

Gabriela Ritch (Sub-Midget Div)

• Long Jump: 3.75m (2^nd)
• High Jump: 1.06m (4^th)

Cameilia Gillispie (Youth Div)

• High Jump: 1.32m (3^rd) *PB
• Long Jump: 3.88m (7^th)
• Shot Put: 8.53m (7^th) *PB
• 200m: 29.23 (15^th)

Kimberly Paz (Youth Div)

• Javelin: 26.28m (1^st) *PB
• Shot Put: 7.77m (10^th) *PB
• 100m: 15.48 (21^st)

Ameilia Gillispie (Young Div)

• 100mH: 15.49 (1^st) *PB
• Javelin: 24.86m (1^st) *PB
• 200m: 25.31 (3^rd) *PB
• Long Jump: 4.92m (3^rd)

Andrew Frederick (Young Div)

• Shot Put: 12.96m (1^st)
• Discus: 37.84m (3^rd)
• Javelin: ND

Jonathan Frederick (Intermediate Div)

• Javelin: 36.49m (1^st)
• Shot Put: 12.28m (2^nd)
• Discus: 38.60m (2^nd)

Matteo Lazzari (Youth Div)

• Javelin: 26.28m (1^st) *PB
• Discus: 26.12m (3^rd) *PB
• Shot Put: 9.83m (6^th) *PB

Ronaldo Morrison (Youth Div)

• 100mH: 15.76 (1st) *PB
• High Jump: 4.94m (7th)

Amanda Ferguson (Sub-Midget Div)

• Shot Put: 6.47m (3rd
• Javelin: 11.26m (4th) *PB
• Discus: ND