The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WILL all four of our relay teams qualify for the 2012 London Olympics?

Well, that's a question that remains to be answered as the Bahamas is expected to begin its trek to relay-qualifying during Penn Relay Carnival set for April 26-28.

Henry Rolle, who heads the relay coordination team that was assembled by the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA), produced a list of active and reserve athletes who are in a pool that they hope to select the teams from.

"The team is considered on several criteria, one based on their selection to previous national teams and two, consideration to what the athletes have done this year in regards to their events and their relay experiences," he said.

Therefore, the respective relay pools will comprise of the following:

• Men's 4 x 100 active list - Derrick Atkins, Jamial Rolle, Michael Mathieu and Shavez Hart. Rolle, however, said Hart won't be available until after May but he will remain in the pool and be replaced by one of the reserves

• The reserves list is made up of Warren Fraser, Rodney Green, Adrian Griffith, Jonathan Farquharson, Trevor Mackey, Ryan Penn and Antillio Bastian

• Women's 4 x 100 active list - Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, Chandra Sturrup, Anthonique Strachan, Shaunae Miller and Sheniqua Ferguson.

• Women's reserve pool - Nivea Smith, Tynia Gaither, Tia Rolle, V'Alonee Robinson, Cache Armbrister, Jernise Saunders, Tamika Clarke and Christine Amertil

• Men's 4 x 400 active list - Chris 'Fireman' Brown, Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu and Ramon Miller

• Men's reserve list - Latoy Williams, Andrae Williams, Jeffery Gibson, Andretti Bain, Avard Moncur and La'Sean Pickstock

As for the women's 4 x 400 team, Rolle said they are still in the process of determining who is competing and will be available before they release their list.

"Some people have been competing very well but the main thing is that people have to be competing," Rolle said. "It don't matter what type of team we assemble. If individuals are not competing, you're not going to be sharp. If you're not sharp, you won't be fast in the relays. So it's a matter of people competing and being able to go to the meets to compete."

Rolle, who along with Dianne Woodside, David Charlton, Tyrone Burrows and George Cleare have been named to the relay coordination team, said they just want the athletes to compete.

"We could have a team set but, in the order that somebody gets hurt, we know that we will have people ready to fill their void," he said.

"And if others are competing, it keeps those in the active role competitive and honest. Once an individual is chosen and they realize that the competition is so far back, then they feel it's a piece of cake to make the team. You don't have a very competitive team. So we want them to be competitive and honest."

In order to qualify for the Olympics, the Bahamas will have to run one of the top 16 times in the world.

So far, the men's 4 x 400 relay team is the only one listed in the current standings by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) as of March 2.

The team is ranked at No.9 with aggregated time of six minutes and 02.87 seconds for an average of 3:01.44 from the two meets they competed in.

Their best performance came at the Central American and Caribbean Championships where the team ran 3:01.33. Their next best performance came at the IAAF World Championships in a time of 3:01.54.

The teams all ahead of the Bahamas in order are the United States, Republic of South Africa, Jamaica, Russia, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany and Kenya.

The Bahamas is not listed in the top 20 in the women's 4 x 1 that is led by the United States, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago respectively.

While Jamaica heads the men's 4 x 100 over the United States and France, the leaders in the women's 4 x 400 are Russia, Jamaica and the United States.

The results were compiled by the IAAF Statistics Office.

After the teams perform at the Penn Relays, Rolle said they will be seeking corporate Bahamas to adopt the relay teams because it takes a lot to keep the athletes healthy.

"I think it's vital whether it's the banking system, industrial system or whoever to step forward and adopt one of these teams to provide the adequate funding so that the athletes can go to the meets and compete," he said.

"At the end of the day, it will make all of us proud knowing that it took an effort, not just a single effort, but an effort of the country to put those individuals on the track, so come August, we can be equally proud when they're in London competing."