The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE men’s 4 x 400 metres struck another blow to the United States as the same quartet of Michael Mathieu, Demetrius Pinder, Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown and Ramon Miller pulled off the victory at the Penn Relays over the weekend in Philadelphia.

In the rematch of their triumph at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, and in a prelude to their showdown at the inaugural IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas in May, the team of Mathieu (45.7 split), Pinder (44.7), Brown (45.09) and Miller (45.32) pulled off a stunning victory in three minutes and 78 seconds.

The United States, who experienced some difficulties on the third and final exchange, had to settle for second in 3:03.31 as they held off Brazil, who finished in third in 3:03.32. The Jamaicans got fourth in 3:04.99 and Nigeria ended out the field in fifth in 3:05.05.

“I thank God for allowing us to go out there and compete,” Brown said. “I think we did extremely well and I know for a fact, we will definitely have to step up our game for the World Relays. But I think Team Bahamas, although we didn’t go there as a team, did very well.

“With our relay, I think Michael ran an awesome first leg and got us off to where we needed to go. Demetrius continued it and I was expecting to relax it on the third leg, but I had to turn on the burners at the last minute. As I came in, we had some miscommunication on the exchange, but Ramon still managed to get the job done. I’m proud of them that they stepped their game up and showed the world that we are ready for the World Relays.”

The Bahamas had taken a slight lead on the second leg as Pinder got the baton from Mathieu. But when Brown got the baton, he was challenged by American David Verburg, coming into the finish line. As they got to the final exchange, American Manteo Mitchell was on the inside lane, instead of the outside lane.

As Brown came into the exchange zone on the inside, he passed the baton to Miller on the outside of Mitchell. When Mitchell attempted to get the baton from Verburg, he missed the connection and had to return for it. By the time he retrieved it, Miller was already gone.

As Miller extended his lead, Manteo tried to reel him in, but he found himself having to hold off Hugo De Sousa from Brazil as the Bahamas stayed comfortably ahead for the victory.

“The way the officials had the relay team lined up, I was expecting Ramon to be in lane one, but that didn’t happen. With that said and done, I wasn’t expecting anything to happen, but in races like these you have to expect the unexpected. Once I saw that he wasn’t where he should have been, I was determined not to let the baton go until I knew he had it.

“It was a scary thing going into the exchange zone because anybody could have gotten hurt. I just was happy that everybody came out injury free and we came out with the victory. All of our guys are healthy. Me, Demetrius and Ramon will compete on May 10 in Guadeloupe and Demetrius may compete this weekend along with Michael. So the guys are in shape and we are looking forward to defend our territory when the whoever come for the world relays.”

It was just one of the two relays that the Americans lost at the relays. The other came in the women’s 4 x 100m that saw the Jamaicans pull off the victory over the United States. The Bahamas didn’t participate in the relay.

However, Anthonique Strachan and Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson ran the first two legs respectively on the Caribbean team that included Alena Brooks and Kimarra McDonald. They ran 3:46.95 for third in the women’s sprint medley. The United States won in 3:37.94 and Jamaica had second in 3:38.41.

Individually, Jeffrey Gibson won the Olympic Development men’s 400m hurdles. Competing for The Executives Track Club, he won the race in 50.14, well ahead of Mario Briscoe, who ran unattached, in 52.40. Quinton Harley, also unattached, was third in 53.15.

The St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine also had some success at the relays.

Competing in the High School Girls 4 x 100m Small Schools race, the Big Red Machine’s team of Blayre Catalyn, Keianna Albury, Makeya White and Dreshanae Rolle raced to victory in a time of 47.32. The Queen’s College Comets’ team of Andira Ferguson, Jenae Ambrose, Taryn Rolle, Talia Thompson was fourth in 47.85.

And Denzel Pratt, also competing for SAC, won the High School Boys’ javelin championship title with a heave of 67.24 metres or 220-feet, 7-inches. His nearest competitor, Curtis Thompson of Florence Township in New Jersey, did 67.28m (220-4) for second.