Champs stars line up for Carifta

SEVERAL OF Jamaica’s junior athletes who dominated at the recently concluded ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships are expected to feature heavily at the 2024 Carifta Games being held in Grenada this weekend.

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) named its 79-member squad for the 51st staging of the Carifta Games to be held at the Kirani James Stadium from March 30 to April 1. The key names for the girls’ squad include Edwin Allen’s Theianna-Lee Terrelonge and Muschett’s Shanoya Douglas.

Terrelonge, who won gold in the Girls’ Class 2 100 metres at Champs, will line up in the under-20 100m. Alongside her will be Lacovia High School’s Sabrina Dockery, who took silver in the Girls’ Class 2 100.

Muschett’s Douglas, who won double gold in the Class 2 200m and 400m at Champs, will line up in the under-20 200m event and will be accompanied by Dockery.

Wolmer’s Girls’ School’s Natrece East, double champion in the Class 3 100 and 200 at Champs, will be hoping she can replicate that achievement in the Jamaican colours when she lines up among under-17s in both events.

East will also be seeking to better her performance from the Carifta Games last year, where she walked away with bronze in the 200 and was fourth in the 100.

Champs’ new record holder in the Girls’ Class 3 high jump, Hydel’s Zavien Bernard, will be on double duty in Grenada, competing in the under-17 high jump, and joining Immaculate’s Jaeda Robinson in the under-17 triple jump.

Among the boys, Kingston College’s (KC) Marcinho Rose is one of the team’s headliners following big performances at Champs.

Rose will compete in the under-20 400. Following his 45.93-second personal best at Champs, he is the heavy favourite leading up to this weekend’s event.

Just like he did at Champs, Wolmer’s Boys’ School’s Gary Card will only be competing in the under-20 200 at the games.

Card will be hoping to claim gold in the event following his silver at Champs that included a three-way blanket finish with KC’s Amal Glasglow and Rose.

He will be joined in the 200 by Class 2 champion Johan-Ramaldo Smythe of Muschett High.

In the under-20 100, former St Elizabeth Technical High School and current Elite Performance Track Club sprinter Javorne Dunkley is expected to grab the media headlines.

Dunkley holds a season’s best 10.17 seconds over the distance and is one of the event’s favourites.

Jamaica will be defending their Carifta Games title and will hope to capture a 38th straight crown at the regional meet.

Last year, the nation finished with 78 medals – 40 gold, 22 silver and 16 bronze.