Along with the explosive eruptions of the La Soufriere volcano, the month of April also saw some explosive performances on the track. Two of this country’s overseas based athletes made qualifying times for the 2021 Carifta Games.

A 2^nd place finish at the JAAA QTS on April 20^th, earned Handal Roban a qualification for the 2021 Under 20 Boys 800m. The meet was held at Calabar High School in Kingston, Jamaica. Handal, who is in 6^th form at Jamaica College, won the first of three heats of the race, in a time of 1:50.30s. He was just beaten in the final positioning by his team mate, J”Voughnn Blake, who won heat 3 in 1:49.75s.

Handal’s run also broke the National U20 Boys Record of 1:51.37, held by Eversley Linley.

His time put him well below the required 1:56.00 to qualify for the Carifta Games, scheduled for Bermuda later this year. Handal is no stranger to the Carifta Games, having brought home a bronze medal in 2019, and a gold the previous year, in the Under 17 category.

Also qualifying for Carifta, was St. Kitts based Xaria Bascombe. She competed at the St. Kitts Athletics Challenge Series 2, on April 11^th. Xaria’s qualification came when she finished second in the Under 17 Girl’s 100m, in a personal best time of 12.18. The qualifying time for Carifta is 12.25.

She also ran a PB of 25.20 to win the 200m event. This was however outside of the required 24.98 for Carifta qualification.

They now join Romar Stapleton, who is also at Jamaica College, on the list of qualifiers for the regional championship. On March 13, Romar ran 10.78 at the JAAA Qualification meet, just inside the 10.80 needed to make the Carifta standard.

There is still some uncertainty about the games for this year, as there has been a recent spike in Covid-19 cases in Bermuda. A date of July 2-4 had been initially marked for the meet, but this had to be adjusted, due to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), setting its exams during that time. As a result the games were then set for August 13-15. The Bermudan Local Organizing Committee is scheduled to meet with Government officials, and update the NACAC council by the end of this month.