Miller sets Ja’s second record at Carifta Games

Robert Miller claimed Jamaica’s second record at the Carifta Games in the under-17 400 metres hurdles final yesterday. Miller stopped the clock in 52.19 seconds to erase Bahamian Stephen Newbold’s record of 52.75. Jamaica’s first record of the meet was set by Nickecoy Bramwell in the under-17 boys’ 400 metres final on Saturday,

Miller was a class act in the field as he won gold ahead of Akanye Samuel-Francis of St Kitts and Nevis, who took silver in 52.88. Jamaica’s Fransico Williams rounded off the podium positions when he finished third in 53.19.

The 16-year-old Miller broke Newbold’s record which had stood for 14 years, having been set at the 2010 Carifta Games hosted in The Cayman Islands.

Miller’s record was one of three gold medals Jamaica claimed in the 400m hurdles finals. Natassia Fletcher took gold in the under-17 girls’ final while Shamer Blake and Princewell Martin finished first and second in the under-20 boys’ final.

Fletcher’s gold medal in the 400m hurdles is her second of the championships. She won gold in the 400m on Saturday.

Jamaica’s dominance in the 400m hurdles was broken by Michelle Smith of the US Virgin Islands. Smith, who holds the record in the under-17 girls age group, just barely missed out on the under-20 record. She stopped the clock in 56.28, just six-hundredths of a second slower than Jamaican Shiann Salmon’s record of 56.22. Jamaica had to settle for silver and bronze as Kelly-Ann Carr crossed the line in 57.02 ahead of teammate Aaliyah Mullings, 59.80.

Chavez Penn continued his impressive season as he claimed gold in the under-20 boys’ high jump with a final height of 2.13m. This adds to the double gold medals he won at the ISSA-GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships just over a week ago in the Class One high jump and triple jump.

Grenada’s Timothy Greenidge took silver with his best height of 2.05m while Bahamian teammates Bernard Kemp and Shamar Davis claimed joint-bronze as they cleared a final height of 1.95m with identical records throughout the competition.

Penn was elated with his performance following the achievement and thanked his coach.

“I feel incredible, proud, accomplished. It is a testament to hard work and dedication. I’d like to say thanks to my coach, my teammates, and supporters. I feel good to see my hard work pay off in such a tangible way,” he said.

Jamaica had another near sweep of medals, this time in the 4x100m relays.

On the girls’ side, Jamaica mined gold in both the under-17 and under-20 finals with times of 45.36 and 43.63, respectively. However, the team could not replicate the feat on the boys’ side, winning gold and silver in the under-17 and under-20 finals, respectively.

In the under-17 final, Jamaica won in 41.30 but had to settle for second best in the under-20 final in 40.55, behind Trinidad and Tobago, who took gold in 40.45.

Today’s final day of action begins at 8 a.m. (Jamaica time).