The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

With the 2013 BTC Carifta Games just four days away, Team Bahamas is putting the pieces together with all of the athletes and coaching staff coming together for the final few practices.

On Monday at the old Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, there was a bonding of sort as the athletes got some further instructions from the coaches and the management team.

During their first session since a busy weekend that included a motorcade, church service and luncheon, a number of the athletes interviewed are either making their debut, moving up from one division to the other or completing their Carifta experience.

For Mikhail Bethel, a last minute change to the 400 metres hurdles paid off big for him as he earned a spot on the under-17 boys squad.

“It’s been a great experience. I never imagined being on the team, but I’m here,” said Bethel, who only started running the hurdles during the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools championships and the rest, like they say, was history.

The 15-year-old former distance runner, who eventually converted to a sprinter before he eventually tried his hands at the hurdles, said it has been a big transition, but one that he is embracing.

“I did have a little bit of a hurdles background way back then, but it’s going good right now,” he said. “I’m looking forward to running my personal best and winning a medal for my country.”

Antonique Butler is making her fourth and final appearance at the games, but this one is going to be a special one for the long and triple jumper, who will celebrate her 19th birthday on Saturday when she is slated to compete in the long jump.

“I’ve been doing a lot of strength and speed work and a lot of lifting,” she said. “I’m so excited that the games is going to be held here at home. With us competing in front of our home crowd, I think the adrenal rush is going to be about 10 times higher. It’s going to be awesome competing at home.”

Butler, who won a bronze medal in the triple jump last year in Hamilton, Bermuda, encourages the other members of the team to continue to train hard, eat right and stay focused.

This year’s team has at least 17 athletes from Grand Bahama and a few persons on the management and coaching squad.

For quartermiler Shekeitha Henfield, who has been named as an assistant coach, it’s a pleasure to be back on the team, having competed for the Bahamas when the games was last held here.

“It’s a good experience to be able to give back,” Henfield said. “I think we have a good crop of athletes to work with. It shows that the hard work is finally paying off. They are reaping their results.”

If the performances from the Grand Bahama High Schools Championships was any indication, Henfield said the athletes from Grand Bahama should peak at the right time during the games.

Brianne Bethel, a 14-year-old from Sunland Baptist Academy, has been added to the team for the relays, but she’s excited to be making her debut, especially as a competitor from Grand Bahama.

“I feel good. I feel accomplished,” she said. “The Bahamas can expect my best because that’s all I’m going to be putting out. I’m not going to let my team down or the Bahamas down.”

Shaquania Dorsette, a 15-year-old also from Sunland Baptist Academy, said she’s looking forward to running in the 400 and on the 4 x 400 relay team.

“I expect to win. I hope the Bahamas wins also,” Dorsette said. “I’ve been training hard and staying focus. I’m inspired because we have a new stadium and so I’m very confident that we will all perform very well.”

Alexis Smith will be running the 100 hurdles on her first time.

“It’s an awesome experience and I’m looking forward to winning the gold,” Smith said. “I haven’t met everyone, but it’s been a good experience so far. I’m also looking forward to running at home and hopefully I can do my personal best.”

And Vashti Simmons, a 15-year-old also from Sunland Baptist Academy, will be making her debut in the 300m hurdles.

“I’m just looking forward to going out there and doing my best to represent my country,” she said. “It’s a great feeling to actually know that I made the Carifta team for the first time.

“I expected to make the team because I worked hard all year. I already ran in the new stadium, so I’m really looking forward to competing against who ever comes to compete.”

Grand Bahamian Sandra Laing has been a household name when it comes to either chaperoning, managing or coaching a national team. This year, she will assist team manager Doris Wood.

“This one is a little bit different in that we’re home and the athletes have been working hard to get ready to compete,” she said. “Right now, we’ve been working hard trying to get the team to gel together.

“As always, the athletes have tried to isolate themselves because they are in an unknown territory. As the first time on the team, you try to stick with what you know. But we are trying to get them in the mindset that they are now a part of the national team, as they need to mix and mingle and get their feet wet.”

Two of the more seasoned members of the team who are expected to play a key role in the success of the Bahamas are under-20 girls sprinter/hurdler Devynne Charlton and sprinter Carmiesha Cox.

For Charlton, she’s quite content with the way things are going.

“There is pressure because of the expectations on me from the home crowd. I know that a lot of people will be in the crowd cheering me on,” she said. “So I just hope to go out there and do my best. “We have the home crowd advantage and with the team that we have, I think we will shock a lot of people.”

Cox, who is expected to double up in the 100 and 200, said it’s only a matter of time before they finally show the world what they are capable of doing.

“I’m just going to trust in my training going into the games and hope that I do very well,” she said. “I know there will be the pressure, but you just want to do better and make your country look good.

“I’m looking for the Bahamas to do well and hopefully we can come out on top.”

The event is slated to get started on Friday with the official opening ceremonies before the competition starts on Saturday and runs through Monday when the champion will be decided.

Jamaica will be here to defend their title won for the 28th straight time in Hamilton, Bermuda, last year. The Bahamas, however, is hoping to improve on the second place finish by recapturing the title last held in 1984 right here at the old TAR stadium.