The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE coaches were quite impressed with the performances of their athletes as they participated in the Throwers All Comers Meet at the College of the Bahamas on Saturday.

The meet enabled the athletes to improve on their performances in the shot put, javelin and discus throws.

“It was good for us in that we got to see a lot of the younger throwers improve on their performances from last year,” said Bradley Cooper of Throwers Inc, who organised the first in a series of meets to be held this year.

“We are doing this because we want to see an improvement in our throwers when they compete at the CARIFTA Games and the other international events.”

Cooper, who also serves as a coach on the College of the Bahamas Caribs athletic team, said there were quite a number of performances that they were impressed with. He mentioned Perry Adderley, who led the way in the boys’ discus and Denzel Pratt in the javelin.

Ronald Cartwright, the head coach of the RC Athletics, said the shot putters like Laquell Harris caught his attention.

“Overall, I think it was a very successful meet. We need more meets like these every other week or at least once a month so that the throwers can get used to throwing on a consistent basis,” he said. “This can only help the throwers to get the kind of results that we expect from them when they compete overseas.”

And according to Dawn Woodside-Johnson of the Monica Track Club, the meet served its intended purposes based on the performances that she witnessed.

“The meet was very good. Being a throwers meet, the throwers were more relaxed. They knew what they came out here for and they didn’t have to wait the long hours to throw. They also had six throws.

“Normally at the regular track meet, they get 3-4 throws, which is unfair to the throwers,” Wodside-Johnson said.

“In meets like this, it gives the throwers more opportunities to improve on their performances and they get to focus on the errors and mistakes that they made in their earlier throws by the time the later throws come around.”

Woodside-Johnson said throwers like Laquell Harris and Denzil Pratt are just a few of the throwers who stood out in her mind as she watched the competition.

Pratt, an 18-year-old senior at St Augustine’s College, said he encountered some problems with the wind, but he still managed to perform as expected.

“In the javelin, I threw 62 (metres) today and my best is 64 (metres), so it wasn’t that far off. By next weekend, I should be over that,” said Pratt, who is looking to make another appearance on the Carifta team that will represent the Bahamas in St Kitts & Nevis over the Easter holiday weekend.

The next throwers meet is scheduled for March 14 at St Augustine’s College hosted by Club Monica.