The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

While one superstar will be missing because of a “nagging hamstring injury,” another is eager to make her debut for Team Bahamas in the newly refurbished Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

The sudden withdrawal by quarter-miler Shaunae Miller has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many who were expecting the 20-year-old to carry the load for the women’s teams at the inaugural International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) World Relays this weekend.

But on her return home from a series of meets overseas, including Shanghai, China, where she turned in a second place finish over the weekend, 20-year-old Anthonique Strachan said she’s geared up to do whatever is necessary to help the Bahamas women’s relay teams.

“I just got in yesterday (Tuesday) and I’m trying to relax and get the flight out of my leg and do some relay exchanges with my team-mates tomorrow (today) to try and get the relay baton around because we have a lot of foot speed,” Strachan said. “But we have to be able to execute and just have fun with it because that is what the relays is all about.”

Strachan, the St Augustine’s College standout who now lives in Auburn, Alabama, where she trains under coach Henry Rolle, was originally named to Team Bahamas’ pool for the 4 x 100 metre relay.

However, with the absence of Miller and veteran Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, Strachan will have to do double duties as a member of the 4 x 200m team, something she was peeved about considering that the half-lap race is her specialty.

“I know that I was probably supposed to do a 4 x 2, but I was an alternate,” Strachan said. “It was really shocking to me because I have the fastest time of the Bahamian athletes in the 200, so I don’t know why I was down as an alternate when I have the fastest 200m time.

“But the (coaching) team knows what they are doing, they have the expertise and they know who is able to do what, so I just have to trust them. In any event, I am ready to compete in whatever event they want me to compete in.”

Strachan, whose season’s best of 22.50 is just short of her personal best of 22.32, said she just found out like everybody else when she got in on Tuesday that Miller will not be able to team up with her.

“Whatever you guys heard in the meeting (Team Bahamas press conference yesterday at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture) is the same thing that I heard,” Strachan said. “I just wish her a speedy recovery and hope that everything works out fine for her. This is a long season and although it’s supposed to be an off year in the IAAF books, we have the Commonwealth Games and she is a 200m finalist at the World Championships and she is the World Indoor 400m bronze medallist, so she is really one of the best legs that we have.”

With the 14th IAAF World Championships and XXX Olympic Games semifinals in Moscow and London respectively, Miller said she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to help out Team Bahamas.

“A team is not an I, it is a W, so even though she (Miller) is missing, we still have a lot of great legs, so we have to make do with what we have and so we need everybody to pull their own weight,” Miller said. “We still have a fabulous team. It would have been even more fabulous if she was a part of it, but she’s not here so we can’t focus on her now. We have to focus on who is here and who we have and who we can use.”

Miller, the 14th IAAF World Junior Championships 200m champion in Barcelona in 2012 that led to her winning the IAAF newcomer of the year award, will be teaming up with and/or V’Alonee Robinson, Tayla Carter, Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson, Nivea Smith, Lanece Clarke and Shekeitha Henfield, depending on who the coaching staff selects.

While she is not only eager to compete, but also to watch some of the other match-ups in the races scheduled, Strachan said she has heard so much about the new stadium and she’s just as excited about competing in it.

Robinson, home after she closed out her Southeastern Conference era over the weekend at the Kentucky Track and Field Complex by missing out on an appearance in the final of the 100m, but enabled the Auburn Tigers to a fifth place in the 4 x 100m, said she too is excited about the meet.

“It’s always good to be back home and to compete and represent your country,” she said. “With the meet being at home, it feels even better to get the exposure and support from the home crowd.”

With this being her first opportunity to also compete in the new stadium, Robinson said it’s going to be extra special for her. “I’m looking forward to running a good leg and putting our team in a position to get into the final,” she said. “I really want to help us to win and hopefully I can come out of the meet healthy because I’m really looking forward to the outdoor season.”

Having graduated from Auburn this year, Robinson just has to complete her collegiate season at the NCAA Championships in June and then she’s looking forward to joining her team-mates like Strachan, Ferguson, Smith and Miller on the professional circuit.