#Carifta2022 | Noble, Blake get medal party started
Published:Sunday | April 17, 2022 | 12:10 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
THE CARIFTA Games made its long-awaited return after a two-year hiatus and Jamaica didn’t need long to start the medal count on yesterday’s opening day at the National Stadium.
Jamaica’s first medal was gold as Danielle Noble captured the girls’ Under-17 high jump title with a new personal best of 1.73 metres, a week removed from her silver for Wolmer’s Girls in the Class Three event at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Tenique Vincent was second with 1.65, while the British Virgin Islands’ Jah’kyla Morton grabbed a bronze with 1.60.
Noble said the win would be a welcome sight for her teammates at Wolmer’s after her exploits at Champs the previous week.
“I know that my schoolmates at Wolmer’s will be happy for me, to know that I have won the gold medal at Carifta,” she said.
ONE-TWO FINISH
What Noble started in the field, the Jamaicans continued on the track as J’Voughnn Blake captured the Under-20 1500-metre title in a time of four minutes and zero point four milliseconds. His teammate Adrian Nethersole completed a one-two podium finish, earning silver with 4:01.45, while Trinidad and Tobago’s Tryo Llanos took bronze in 4:01.47.
Blake said the win was the perfect way for him to get focused for the 800m today, a week after equalling the Champs Class One boys’ 800m record representing Jamaica College.
“I had a little from Champs and I guess that is what I needed to get back into my running and to build my confidence,” Blake said.
The Games’ first record was broken by Keyshawn Strachan of the Bahamas, winning the boys’ Under-20 javelin in a new mark of 79.89 metres on his first attempt, breaking the 78.28 set by Grenada’s Anderson Peters in 2016. Anthony Diaz of Trinidad and Tobago was second with a distance of 63.69 while Grenada’s Cameron Thomas finished third with 60.80. Christopher Young of Jamaica just missed out on the podium, finishing fourth with 58.84.
Jamaica got medals on both the track and on the field in the opening day. Kobe Lawrence and Christopher Young captured gold and silver in the boys’ Under-20 discus throw. Lawrence won in 60.77m while Young had 54.30m.
Yoshane Bowen captured bronze in the boys’ Under-17 1500m, an event won by Trinidad and Tobago’s Keeran Sriskandarajah. Javon Roberts of Guyana was second. Kededra Coombs got bronze in the girls’ Under-17 1500m final, while Rickeisha Simms and Samantha Pryce completed a Jamaican one-two in the Under-20 1500 final.
Natassia Burrell earned silver in the girls’ Under-17 shot put. Burrell had a distance of 13.10m, which she got on her second attempt but could not overtake Savianna Joseph of the British Virgin Islands, who won gold with 13.54. Terrell McCoy of the Bahamas got bronze with 13.00.