Bahamas Athletics: Carifta 2013 Reminisce

By Miriam Byfield, Bahamas Athletics

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.

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With one gold medal (Alex Pascal), the Cayman Islands is listed on the official table (see attached) in a seven-way tie for eighth place. In the total number of medals Cayman’s two awards place them in a three-way tie for the thirteenth spot.

Eighteen countries gained at least one medal.

Some positive results for the Cayman team:

Daneliz Thomas’ bronze medal performance in the girls under 17 javelin throw. The youngest participant in the event surpassed her previous personal best by a wide margin with a 37.99 metre (124’8”).

Ashleigh Nalty tied for fifth place in the girls under 20 high jump as she equalled her season’s best of 1.70 metres.

Jamal Walton lowered his 200 metre time to 22.52 seconds with an eighth place finish in the boys under 17 final.

In the under 17 boys 800 metre final, Tahj Lewis placed fifth with a 2:02.31 clocking.

Tiffany Cole gained eighth place in the girls under 20 800 metres, where she posted a time of 2:21.02.

The foursome of Tahj Lewis, Rashaun Conolly, Jeahvon Jackson and Jamal Walton chalked up a 3:26.02 mark in the boys 4×400 relay for fourth place to wind up Cayman’s participation in the XLII Carifta Games.

Many members of the team will be eligible to attempt qualification for the 2014 Games in Martinique.

Alex Pascal was our gold medal winner when he celebrated Easter Sunday as he gained a clear-cut victory in the boys under 20 javelin throw.

His performance was of such consistency and quality that any one of his five legal throws would have brought him the gold.

His fine series included a pair of tosses at the 67-metre level, topping off at 67.50 (220’5”).

He becomes the first Cayman Islands athlete to win Carifta gold since Chantelle Morrison in 2010.

Nearest competitors were Jamil Craig of Barbados, who captured the silver medal with a mark of 63.36 metres, edging out Adrian Williams of StKitts/Nevis, who posted a best of 63.22 metres.

Other notable Cayman were performances were from Tahj Lewis and Jamal Walton in the boys under 17 category. Tahj turned in a 2:02.73 effort to qualify for the 800 metre final, and Jamal’s 22.72 effort at 200 metre was sufficient to advance him as well.

Brandon Johnson missed a spot in the under-20 boys 200-metre final, clocking 22.42 for ninth-best overall.

Troy Long was charged with a false start in his heat of this event, which disqualified him from competition.

In other action, Lacee Barnes competed in her second event,posting a best mark of 17.68 metres to finish ninth out of 10 participants in the under-17 girls

discus throw.

Amelia Gillespie, who was within striking distance of third place after the first day of competition in the girls open pentathlon, suffered a viral infection. She managed a 4.60-metre effort in the long jump and was unable to report for the start of the 800-metre run.

Jorel Bellafonte, who suffered a disastrous spill to the track in the boys under-20 final at 1,500 metres, did not compete in the 800-metre run, for which he had been listed.

Carifta Swimmers’ 14-medal haul

Swimmers from the Cayman Islands in Jamaica grabbed 14 medals that included three gold – in the 2013 CARIFTA Swimming Championships.

The Cayman Islands national junior swim team placed 10th overall in Kingston thanks to gold from captain Geoffrey Butler in the 15-17 1500 metre freestyle in a time of 16:30.55, Kavanagh Lambert in the 11-12 200m breast stroke in 2:52.81 and Lauren Hew in the 13-14 200m back stroke in a time of 2:31.73.

Geoffrey Butler (17) beat his previous personal best by five seconds in his final CARIFTA appearance.

Mr. Butler and the rest of the Cayman team arrived home on Thursday morning. They were greeted by throngs of well wishers at Owen Roberts International Airport, including Director of Sports Collin Anglin.

In addition to his gold, Butler won three silver medals: 400m Individual Medley at 4:50.79; 200IM and 400m Free at 4:08.60. Butler earned two bronze in the 200m Free at 1:59.47 and in the Open Water 5K, which made its debut at CARIFTA.

Cayman produced four silver and seven bronze medals to accompany the three gold. There were 69 personal best times posted and 28 appearances in the various event finals.

Many congratulations.

Over 350 athletes from 16 countries participated in the 2013 edition of this year’s championships.

The multisport concept of the CARIFTA Games continued in earnest in 1989 organised by the Amateur Swimming Associations in the region.

Due to the lack of 50 metre facilities in the region, CARIFTA ranged from a meet in yards to short course to 50 metre in the early years.

The event was broadened to include the disciplines of water polo and synchronised swimming beginning in 2002 and expanded with an open water event this year.