The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations has released a list of 23 athletes who have been ratified for the team to represent the Bahamas at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, in August with the door open for others to qualify in the Senior Central American and Caribbean Championships.

The list, released by BAAA public relations officer Tonique Williams, is made up of 12 women, half of which have attained either the A or B qualifying standards in their respective events and 11 men, nine of which have also surpassed one of the two qualifying standards.

Williams, the 400 metre champion in the 2005 Worlds in Helsinki, Finland, and 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, revealed that the BAAA will wait until the completion of the Sr CAC Championships in Mexico this weekend to complete its final list.

That’s because a Sr CAC champion, who has not been named to the team, will get an automatic berth. And in these events where athletes have already attained qualifying standards, if any other athlete meets those standards in Mexico, their performances will be taken into consideration, depending on the numbers allocated.

Whenever an athlete has done an A qualifying standard, a country is allowed to carry a maximum of three, considering that they all make the A standard. In the case of athletes only making the B standard in an event, only one athlete will be given the preference to compete.

Based on the list ratified by the BAAA, standards were achieved by the following in individual events:

Women

100m - Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson (11.18) and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (11.32).

The A standard is 11.28 and the B is 11.36.

200m - Anthonique Strachan (22.32), Shanuae Miller (22.45) and Nivea Smith (23.17). The A standard is 23.05 and the B is 23.30.

400m - Shaunae Miller (50.70).

The A standard is 51.55.

Long jump - Bianca Stuart (6.73m).

The A standard is 6.75m and the B is 6.65m.

Men

100m - Derrick Atkins (10.06).

The A standard is 10.15.

200m - Michael Mathieu (20.35), Jamial Rolle (20.51) and Trevorvano Mackey (20.60). The A standard is 20.52 and the B is 20.60.

400m - Ramon Miller (44.93), Latoy Williams (45.26) and Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown (45.29). The A standard is 45.28 and the B is 45.60.

400m hurdles - Jeffrey Gibson (49.39).

The A standard is 49.40 and the B is 49.60.

High jump - Ryan Ingraham (2.28m).

The A standard is 2.31m and the B is 2.28m.

The Bahamas has also qualified for the women’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 and the men’s 4 x 400m relays. Additionally, athletes have been ratified to make up those teams. The complete list of relay pools is posted in the list of the team members.

George Cleare, who has been selected as the head coach for the team, said it’s a good core of athletes that he feels will represent the Bahamas very well.

“It’s a good mixture of youth and veterans and if you look at the list, we have a lot of newcomers and a lot of athletes that have competed for a long time,” he said. “What we don’t have is a lot of athletes that are in between or who have been around for about four or five years.

“We will need everybody to go out there and perform the way they know they are capable of doing. We just have to try to bring home some medals. This is a very good team. I think based on what we have, we should have a good core of athletes to look forward to competing in the next few years.”

Cleare said in the post-era of the “Golden Girls”, the Bahamas is now seeing a resurgence of the next crop of female sprinters and there is also a solid group of quarter-milers who will have the task of trying to keep the Bahamas on top after winning the gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

“We are going to have to look at some athletes stepping up and turning in some big performances so that we can get the kind of medals that we have been accustomed to getting,” he said.

IAAF Team

Women

100m - Sheniqua Ferguson and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie

200m - Anthonique Strachan, Shaunae Miller and Nivea Smith

400m - Shaunae Miller

Long jump - Bianca Stuart

4 x 100 relay pool - Sheniqua Ferguson, Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, Anthonique Strachan, Shaunae Miller, Nivea Smith and Cache Armbrister

4 x 400m relay pool - Lanece Clarke, Amara Jones, Shakeithera Henfield, Miriam Byfield and Cottrel Martin

Men

100m - Derrick Atkins

200m - Michael Mathieu, Jamial Rolle and Trevorvano Mackey

400m - Ramon Miller, Latoy Williams and Chris Brown

400m hurdles - Jeffrey Gibson

High jump - Ryan Ingraham

4 x 400m relay pool - Ramon Miller, LaToy Williams, Chris Brown, Michael Mathieu, Jeffrey Gibson, Wesley Neymour and Stephen Newbold