The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE 50th Oaktree Medical CARIFTA Games wrapped up last night at the Thomas A Robinson stadium.

The athletes of Team Bahamas shone on and off the track to add to the home country’s medal count. Going into the final day, The Bahamas had already surpassed last year’s medal count with a total of 26 medals after two days of action.

The team secured 17 medals at last year’s CARIFTA Games. Team Bahamas wrapped up the games in second place behind Jamaica.

In the final day of action, more athletes added medals to the fold for Team Bahamas. Kamera Strachan and Dior-Rae Scott finished first and second respectively in the under 17 women’s javelin. Strachan notched a throwing distance of 46.07m to claim gold for The Bahamas. Her teammate secured silver with a throwing distance of 45.13m.

The young athletes talked about how it felt to finish first and second alongside each other.

“Last year I came fourth and I was a little sad but now I set my mind to say I am gonna get the record,” Strachan said.

Scott talked about how it felt to get a personal best in the competition.

“I am really excited that I was able to personal best and I am more than proud of my teammate. It wasn’t what I expected but I am still proud of myself nevertheless,” she said.

In more gold in action on day three, Jamiah Nabbie collected her second gold medal in the under 17 girls 200m finals. She clocked a time of 23.67 in the highly anticipated finals race. She was followed by Naomi London for second place and Jamaica’s Natrece East, who came third with 23.85.

Nabbie talked about how it felt to win the second gold medal for herself and The Bahamas. “It feels amazing. I came into the race a little fatigued and tight from the events over the past weekend but I still came out with a gold. I pushed hard in my race and I wanted to make my parents and country proud,” the gold medallist said.

She added that her motivation during the last couple meets was to keep her eyes on the finish line, not put too much pressure on herself, and keep her pace to come out with the win.

The under 17 girls 200m finals gave momentum to the boys because they came right behind to win gold and bronze in the same race.

Cayden Smith, gold medallist in the under 17 200m finals, came out with the win after running a time of 21.70. He was joined by fellow teammate Andrew Brown who picked up bronze after a third place finish of 22.03.

The duo talked about how it felt to add gold and bronze to the Bahamas’ medal count.

Smith said it felt amazing to win a gold medal for his country. He said his strategy was to hit the curve hard and once he got on the straight away, he felt good so he just took off to secure the win.

Bronze medallist Brown said it felt good to get the win and wasn’t sure about it because his legs started to lose power towards the end of the race, but he used his strides to help him get third position after being fourth and fifth throughout the race. Team Bahamas added a silver medal to their count courtesy of Otto Laing in the under 20 boys 110m hurdles. Laing held on to the second place finish while notching a time of 13.49. He was followed by teammate Trayshaun Robinson who took bronze after running 14.05.

Laing talked about how it felt to get the silver medal for the home country.

“Going through the race I knew I had to be able to execute my race to the best of my abilities, bring my third leg around, run through the hurdles and then when I came off the last one make sure [to] run through the line,” Laing said.

In more hurdles action, Quinton Rolle secured bronze for The Bahamas in the under 17 boys 110m hurdles race. The Team Bahamas athlete finished behind Jamaica’s Kahiem Carby and Shakir Lewis for a third place finish. He clocked a time of 14.49 securing the first medal of day three’s evening session.

Another bronze medal was earned by Bahamas’ Amari Pratt in the under 20 girls 200m finals after she notched a time of 24.17. Pratt said she was a little nervous after the two false starts by her competitors in the race. She said she felt pretty good about her performance and her main focus was to just keep stepping over, and to move her arms leading to a bronze medal finish.

Among the rest of yesterday’s medalists for Team Bahamas was Adam Musgrove in the under 20 boys 200m finals (bronze), the under 17 girls 4x400m relay team (bronze), the under 17 boys 4x400m (silver), and the under 20 girls 4x400m relays (bronze).

After an exciting three days of track and field action, Drumeco Archer president of The Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) talked about his thoughts on this year’s CARIFTA team.

“I think we came, we saw, we conquered, and we did exactly what we had planned to do. We know that we have some work to do but we showed up and showed we were a force to be reckoned with,” Archer said.

He said he believes the team has amassed maybe three times more medals than the team last year. He thinks that this year’s team was nothing short of excellent and they could not have done a better job.

Here is a look at the medal winners for The Bahamas from the Oaktree Medical Center’s 50th CARIFTA Games held over the Easter holiday weekend at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Gold medallists

Kaden Cartwright, under-20 boys javelin, 210-feet, 2-inches or 64.07m,

Jamiah Nabbie, under-17 girls 100m, 11.67.

Boys under-17 4 x 100m relay team of Trent Ford, Andrew Brown, Cayden Smith and Ishmael Rolle, 41.46.

Brenden Vanderpool, under-20 boys pole vault, 16-7 ¼ (5.06m).

Kamera Strachan, under-17 girls javelin, 43.59m.

Under-20 mixed 4 x 400 relay team of Javonya Valcourt, Lacarthea Cooper, Tamani Skinner and Shimar Bain, 3:24.62.

Kenyce Scavella, under-17 girls discus, 32.70m.

Jamiah Nabbie, girls under-17 200m, 23.67.

Caden Smith, under-17 boys 200m, 21.70

Silver medallists

Javonya Valcourt, under-20 girls 400m, 52.12.

Lanaisha Lubin, under-20 girls triple jump, 40-8 ¼ (12.40m).

Ishmael Rolle, under-17 boys 100m, 10.62.

Carlos Brown Jr, under-20 boys 100m, 10.38.

Darvinique Dean, under-17 girls 400m hurdles, 1:02.50.

Lavardo Deveaux, under-20 boys octathlon, 5,197 points.

Boys under-20 4 x 100m relay team of Zachary Rahming, Adam Musgrove and Carlos Brown Jr, 39.78.

Girls under-17 4 x 100m relay team of Darvinique Dean, Jamiah Nabbie, Bayli Major and Shayann Demeritte, 46.43.

Dior-Rae Scott, under-17 girls javelin, 42.29.

Otto Laing, under-20 boys 110m hurdles, 13.49.

Under-17 boys 4 x 400m relay team, 3:20.47.

Laquan Ellis, under-20 triple jump, 48-11 ½ (14.92m.

Bronze medallists

Erin Barr, under-17 girls 1,500m, 4:54.09.

Terrell McCoy, under-17 girls shot put, 43-feet, 8-inches (13.31m). Andrew Brown, under-17 boys 400m, 48.68.

Lacarthea Cooper, under-20 girls 400m, 53.12.

Adam Musgrove, under-20 boys 100m, 10.44.

Vanessa Sawyer, under-20 girls javelin, 142-3 (43.37m).

Mateo Smith, under-20 boys long jump, 24-5 (7.44m).

Reuben Bain, under-17 boys shot put, 45-2 ½ (13.78m).

Shimar Bain, under-20 boys 400m hurdles, 49.92.

Akaya Lightbourne, under-20 girls 3,000m, 10:47.01.

Girls under-20 4 x 100m relay team of Amari Pratt, Melvinique Gibson and Shataiya Dorsette, 45.55.

Tyler Cash, under-20 boys pole vault, 14-7 ¼ (4.45m).

Joshua Williams, under-17 boys high jump, 6-2 ¾ (1.90m).

Quinton Rolle, under-17 boys 110m hurdles, 14.49.

Andrew Brown, under-17 boys 200m, 22.03.

Amari Pratt, under-20 girls 200m, 24.17.

Adam Musgrove, under-20 boys 200m, 20.96.

Under-17 girls 4 x 400m relay team, 3:51.60.

Under-20 girls 4 x 400m relay team, 3:47.68.