The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHAUNAE Miller put her explanation mark on her final appearance at the BTC Carifta Games by smashing the one-year-old record by Anthonique Strachan to clinch the under-20 girls 200 metres in dramatic fashion.

Miller, the 18-year-old NCAA Indoor Freshman of the Year at the University of Georgia, pulled away from the field on Monday to snatch the half-lap title in 22.77 seconds to erase Strachan’s meet record of 22.85 that she established in Hamilton, Bermuda, last year.

The race was so fast that even silver medallist Jamaican Sherica Jackson went under the record with her personal best of 22.84 and Bahamian bronze medallist Carmeisha Cox ran her PF of 23.66.

In the process, Miller picked up the Bahamas’ first double feat in the 200 and 400 (which was contested on Saturday) and was on the third leg of the Bahamas’ victorious 4 x 100 relay team of Devynne Charlton, Carmeisha Cox and Kieanna Albury that won on Sunday.

“I just want to thank God for the race and thank God for the opportunity,” said Miller about her success at the games. “This was my last year and I was running in front of the home crowd, so I was very pleased. There’s nothing more that I could ask for.”

On her record breaking performance, Miller was quite modest as she just shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to make too much of a big deal about it.

But the three gold medal performances lined her up for the Austin Sealy Award as the most outstanding athlete of the games. She followed on the heels of Strachan, the immediate past back-to-back champion in 2010 and 2011 respectively in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Bermuda.

As she did when asked about the record, Miller didn’t care to elaborate about her feelings.

And when she was asked which of the three races she enjoyed the most, she surprisingly pointed out the relay.

“I enjoyed running with my team-mates,” said Miller, who last year competed with both Charlton and Albury at St Augustine’s College before she departed for college. “I love it. It was good.” Still when comparing the two races, Miller admitted that the competition was extremely tough because “everybody was coming for me. I knew it was going to be some stiff racers, so I just wanted to have some fun with them.”

And to show her appreciation for the tremendous support she received before, during and after each of her races, Miller waved to the crowd and clapped as a gesture of her gratitude. Unfortunately, many were disappointed that she didn’t return to compete for a fourth title in the 4 x 400 relay.

Jackson, who was scheduled to run the anchor leg on Jamaica’s 4 x 100 relay team that bobbled the baton on the second exchange and was disqualified, had nothing but praise for Miller.

“She’s a very nice person. She is always encouraging all of the competitors,” Jackson said. “I know she worked very hard and she deserved every victory that she got here. So congratulations to her.”

Not to be left out of the spotlight that the female sprinters have achieved at the games, Cox said she was thrilled to have secured her success.

“I wasn’t sure of the place that I got, but when I looked up and I saw the bronze, it was an overwhelming experience for me,” Cox said. “I felt we all executed and worked very happy. I’m just happy for all of us.”

The Bahamian crowd that packed the stadium on the final night was indeed pleased as well as they watched Teray Smith cap off the half-lap races when he powered to victory in the under-20 boys division in 20.58.

Jenae Ambrose set the pace with her silver medal in the under-27 girls race in 24.04.

It was fitting that after their feat, one of the first persons to greet them was ‘golden girl’ Eldece Clarke. Tonique Williams was also there to offer her congratulations on a job well done.