Carifta Games dominance continues
Published:Tuesday | April 11, 2023 | 1:05 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
A day that started with chaos ended with Jamaica securing their place atop regional athletics again at the Carifta Games.
The 50th edition of the games ended last night with Jamaica finishing atop the leaderboard on a day where records fell and Jamaica pulled off event sweeps.
Jamaica topped the meet with 71 medals - 40 gold, 19 silver and 12 bronze. Hosts Bahamas were next with 42 (8-13-21) while Trinidad and Tobago were third with 22 (5-7-10).
The Austin Sealy Award for the most outstanding performer at the meet went to Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke who captured the under-20 400m hurdles title.
But first, Jamaica had to deal with a protest stemming from their boys’ under-20 4x100m relay win on Sunday. The protest was lodged by Barbados citing that the Bahamian team had an unfair advantage when their opening leg runner Zachary Evans was left in the blocks. The race was recalled and restarted with the Bahamas finishing second. A rerun was originally scheduled for yesterday but technical leader for the Jamaican team, David Riley, made the decision not to participate in the rerun because the ruling from the Jury of Appeal did not declare the results null and void. The other countries withdrew and the rerun was cancelled and the results stood.
The final session started with Jamaica sweeping the sprint hurdles led by championship record performances from Alexis James in the under-20 100m hurdles final and Kahiem Carby in the under-17 100m hurdles final. James defended her title in a new games record run of 13.06 seconds with her teammate Asharria Ulette second in 13.24. Nya Browne of Barbados was third in 13.80.
James said that despite entering as the defending champion she had to keep a clear head to block all distractions to keep her title
“I just had to keep a clear mind and think about what I wanted. I wanted the gold medal. So I kept it in mind and I went for it,” James said.
Championship record
Meanwhile, Carby dominated the field in the under-17 final with a championship-record performance, clocking 13.49. Carby led a one-two finish for Jamaica with Shakir Lewis getting silver in 14.20. Quinton Rolle of the Bahamas got third in 14.49.
Carby said that securing the title and the record was a crowning achievement in his Carifta Games debut.
“This is my first time competing for my country and it is a great feeling,” Carby said.
Meanwhile, Bryana Davidson defended her under-17 hurdles title, clocking 13.31 leading another one-two finish for Jamaica with Camoy Binger taking second in 13.52.
Demario Prince won the under-20 110m hurdles title in 13.37 seconds adding to his under-20 long jump silver. Otto Laing of the Bahamas was second in 13.49 while Prince’s teammate Shaquane Gordon was third in 13.54.
In the 200m, Malique Smith-Band secured the country’s lone gold medal winning the under-20 boys title in 20.69 seconds, leading a Jamaica one-two with Javourne Dunkley getting silver in 20.88.
Sabrina Dockery was disqualified from the under-20 girls’ final because of a false start. The title went to Trinidad’s Sanaa Frederick in 23.60. In the under-17 girls’ event, Natrece East got bronze in 23.85. The final that was won by Jamiah Nabbie of the Bahamas who completed the sprint double in 23.67. The Bahamas completed a sweep of the under-17 category as Cayden Smith took the boys’ title in 21.70. Jamaica’s Dontae Watson finished fourth in 22.07.
Jamaica closed the games in style with a sweep of the 4x400m relays, taking gold in both the under-17 and under-20 boys’ and girls’ sections.
Meanwhile, in the field, Toriann Caven captured the girls’ under-20 high jump title with a height of 1.81m which she made on her second attempt. Deijanae Bruce got silver with 1.78 and Trinidad and Tobago’s Keneisha Shelbourne got bronze with 1.75m. Jade Ann Dawkins added the under-20 long jump title to the triple jump crown she won earlier, with an effort of 6.14m. Kobe Lawrence added the under-20 shot put title to the discus title with an effort of 18.55m with Shaiquan Dunn finishing second with 15.24m.