The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) president Rosamunde Carey said all members of Team Bahamas arrived safely, settled in and are ready to start competing today in the IAAF World Indoor Championships at “Track City USA” in Portland, Oregon.

Carey and BAAA first vice president Tonique Williams are attending the championships as delegates. They have accompanied the team, managed by Julie Wilson and coached by Peter Pratt and Fritz Grant, who replaced Rupert Gardiner.

“We had a rough night, getting in late, but we had a good team meeting and so for something like this, it was good for Julie (Wilson) and Peter (Pratt) to arrive a day ahead of us because they made sure that all of our accreditation was sorted out. So we had a smooth transition when the team arrived,” said Carey from Portland.

“We had some hiccups at the accreditation centre, so they were able to sort that out before we got here.

“We had a good meeting with the team. They are all excited. Everybody is prepared to do 100 per cent. A lot of them are looking at doing their PR (personal best. Chris Brown is here, but he’s not doing the 400m. He is only doing the 4 x 4 (relay) and his reasoning is that the Bahamas has won every medal except for indoors. So he’s taking the lead with the relay and when he looked at the match-ups, he said he doesn’t see why the Bahamas cannot win the gold.”

Carey said she and Williams were able to attend the technical meeting and they discovered that there were a lot of changes made, including the women’s 60m hurdles where Pedrya Seymour will only have to worry about running the semi-final and the final, if she qualifies.

Seymour, a late entry on the Bahamas team, arrived in Portland late Wednesday night. She is one of two females representing the Bahamas. The other is sprinter Tynia Gaither, who will compete in the 60m.

Today during the morning session, Alonzo Russell will be the first out of the blocks for the Bahamas in the men’s 400 metre heats. Russell, who has a season’s best of 46.58, will run against Boniface Ontuga Mweresa (46.46) from Kenya in four, Dean Lendore (45.46) from Trinidad & Tobago in five and American Klye Clemons (45.95) in six.

Michael Mathieu will run out of lane six in the last of the five heats. He will take his SB’s of 46.05 against a field that include Pavel Maslak of the Czech Republic, who has ran 45.33, in lane five.

The top two finishers in each heat and the next two fastest times will qualify for the semi-final in the evening session.

Also this morning Adrian Griffith will be the lone competitor in the heats of the men’s 60m. He will run out of lane three of the fifth heat with a SB’s of 6.60m. Included in his heat is Jamaican Asafa Powell in lane seven with a SB’s of 6.49 and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands in lane eight with 6:58.

The first three in each of the seven heats and the next three fastest times will advance to the semi-final in the evening session and a chance to contest the final that will conclude the first day of competition.

And in the evening session, Pedrya Seymour has drawn lane five in the first of three heats in the women’s 60m hurdles. Seymour, with her time of 8.16, will be sandwiched by American race favourite Brianna Rollins in four with her time of 7.76 and Great Britain’s Serita Solomon in six with 9.73.

The first two in each heat and the next two fastest times will advance to the final in the evening session.

The other members of the team, including Gaither, high jumpers Donald Thomas and Jamal Wilson and the men’s 4 x 400 relay team will be competing on the final two days on Saturday and Sunday.