8 qualify from trials
March 4th and 5th saw the staging of the Team Athletics SVG 2023 Carifta Trials at the Sir Vincent Beache National Stadium; produce 8 qualifiers for the region’s premier Track & Field competition.
On day 1, Henreek-K Francois kept the dream of a resurgence of long distance running in SVG alive, when he qualified for the Under 17 Boys 3000m. He just managed to get inside the requisite time of 10 minutes flat, crossing the line in 9:58.07.
The program on Saturday initially, did not feature a final for the sprint events, but after some discussion among the coaches, this was added. It was a move that paid off, as the Under 20 Boys race resulted in the top 3 finishers running faster than the 10.80 standard.
Kyle Lawrence, who was a part of the squad in 2022, won in 10.59, with Ajay Delspeche second in 10.75, and J’mar Saunders third in 10.76.
Kyle then returned on day 2, to follow up his 100m qualification by doing the double, and making the 200m qualifying time in 21.63.
Zichri Hepburn, who has made a name for himself in the middle and long distances, was roared home by the support of the spectators in the Under 20 Boys 5000m. He ran 16:44.35 to get in ahead of the required 16:50.00.
In the Under 17 Boys Long Jump, J’aivar Cato leapt to a PB of 6.64m, beating the 6.50m standard.
The multi events featured 3 participants, one female and two males. After the 2 gruelling days of competition, Samaya Connell scored 3900 points in the Heptathlon, and Recardo Williams scored 4241 points in the Octathlon, to qualify.
Regarding the Under 20 Boys 100m, it was originally stated that due to a wind reading of 3.6 m/s, which is over the legal 2.0 m/s, the times would not be valid. However, after investigation and deliberation, this decision was reversed, due to the regulation that states that time that are wind assisted “shall be elibible for world rankings”, which was interpreted to also relate to qualifications.
These athletes now join Keo Davis (U20 Boys 100m & 200m), Uroy Ryan (U20 Boys Triple Jump), Tyhra Charles (U17 Girls 100m & 200m) and Tedre O’neil (U17 Boys Pole Vault), on the list of qualifiers for the Carifta Games set for the Easter Weekend in The Bahamas.
The qualifiers from this weekend are pictured below:
