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Carifta Trials on at Stadium this weekend - Farquharson, Nugent, Foote, Seville set to shine

Published:Wednesday | March 4, 2020 | 12:42 AMHubert Lawrence/Gleaner Writer
Seville
Seville

Reigning Carifta Games champions Kimar Farquharson, Shaquena Foote, Ackera Nugent and Oblique Seville lead an intriguing entry list for this weekend’s Carifta Trials which begin on Friday inside the National Stadium.

Farquharson, the 2019 Under 20 800 metres winner; Nugent, holder of the Under 20 100 metres hurdles title and Foote, who won both the Under 20 400 and 400m hurdles at the Games last year, will bid for places on the 2020 team to Bermuda where Usain Bolt set a still standing world Under 20 200m record 16 years ago.

Seville will be taking the first step to defending his Under 20 100 metres title. Last Saturday, he helped the Racers Track Club to win the 4x100 metres at the Gibson-McCook Relays. He has already run 21.06 seconds over 200 metres.

Farquharson is in good form and the outgoing Calabar High School senior has run 1.49.46 for the two lap distance this season. Nugent did a 100 hurdles/400 hurdles double for Excelsior High at the Corporate Area Championship without looking fully fit and Foote, the versatile Petersfield High standout, has eased through the season while collecting wins at 400m, 800m and 400m hurdles.

Foote will run both the 400m and the hurdles and a battle awaits her in the flat 400m, as Holmwood Technical’s Kavia Francis produced a crisp time of 53.38 seconds to win the Class One final at Central Championships.

The terrific Edwin Allen Class Two sprint team - Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brandy Hall and Tia Clayton - is eligible to compete in the Carifta Under 17 category and their outstanding Class One teammate Kevona Davis, a 2017 Carifta Under 17 winner, is also expected to run both sprints in the Under 20 category.

The Jamaican list of defending champions includes Briana Williams, winner last year in the Under 20 100m and 200m. However, Williams, the 2018 World Under 20 double sprint champion, has retired from junior competition.

Top Event

The Under 20 400m might be the top event on the track for boys. Corporate Area victor Demar Francis of Excelsior and Central champion Bovel McPherson of Holmwood have both beaten 47 seconds this season. At the Gibson-McCook Relays, Francis burned the fastest 4x400 leg by a schoolboy at 46 seconds flat.

The other defending Carifta champions who will seek selection are Calabar’s Kevroy Venson in the Under 20 5000m; Quaycian Davis of St Jago High; Jody-Ann Mitchell and Cedricka Williams of Holmwood; Calabar’s Kobe Lawrence and Kay-Lagay Clarke also of St Jago. Davis, Mitchell, Williams, Lawrence and Clarke all won Under 17 titles last year.