The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GRAND BAHAMA -- Despite the scorching heat in the middle of the day at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex, Steven Gardiner blazed to victory in the men's 400 metres on Saturday in the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations National Senior Track and Field Championships.

While he highlighted the marquee men's event in the two-day meet on Saturday with Alonzo Russell joining him by qualifying for the IAAF World Championships, Tabernacle Baptist Academy's Terrance Jones pulled off the biggest upset in winning the men's 200 metres final.

In his one-lap race, Gardiner made up the stagger on the entire field by the time he got to the 200m. Coming off the curve, he was challenged by Russell but the lanky, 6-foot, 2-inch Gardiner was able to surge ahead and defend his title in posting his winning time of 44.90.

Russell didn't have enough real estate to catch Gardiner, but his time of 45.28 was good enough for him to dip under the IAAF World Championships' qualifying time of 45.30.

"I had a pretty good race, but the weather here was super hot and super humid," Gardiner said. "But you have to stay hydrated and be ready to go."

Looking back at his race, Gardiner said the sun was a major factor and he felt the heat in his shoes.

"We had to go, so I came out and kind of caught everybody on the back stretch and passed them by the time I got to the 200. I had to work coming out. My coach (Gary Evans) and I worked it as we intend to do the rounds in Doha (Qatar)."

Gardiner said he was glad that Russell booked his ticket to join him in the 400m in Doha in September. "It's always good to have more than one person. We can show the world that we have more than one person entered," he said. "So it was pretty good and congratulations to him qualifying."

Russell, a native of Grand Bahama, was delighted that he achieved one of his ultimate goals. "It was a good day. I went for the win, but I came up a bit short," Russell said. "I went for it, but I ended up running a season's best and I'm grateful because I was able to qualify for the World Championships. Now I want to qualify for the Olympic Games. Hopefully I can get it in two weeks at the Pan Am."

Jones, the CARIFTA Games under-20 boys' 200m gold medallist, clocked 20.43 seconds to secure a national junior record, erasing the previous time of 20.66 that was set by Gardiner at the CARIFTA Trials in 2014.

In the process, he also dethroned fellow Grand Bahamian national champion Teray Smith, who was second in 20.67. "From the start, I tried to get a good reaction. Coming off the curve, I knew I had to go hard and bring it home," Jones said.

When he realised that he was out front, Jones said he was a little fearful, but he knew he had to go with the more experienced runners coming behind him. "It feels good," he said about being the national champion. "There's many more to come."

Smith was also the runner-up in the men's 100m the night before. He ran 10.46 that wasn't enough to catch fellow Grand Bahamian Shavez Hart, the winner in 10.44.

In the men's 100m, Hart clocked 10.44 for the victory as he came on strong in the final metres to hold off Smith, who finished second in 10.46.

"This race today was like a season opener for me. I wasn't able to compete for most of the year dealing with nagging injuries on and off the track, so there was a whole lot that went into me getting on the track and finishing the race," Hart said. "I just wanted to execute and not get complacent and just finish strong."

At the end of the race, Joel Johnson crossed the line in 10.61 for third. But earlier in the day, he ran 10.19 to post the fastest qualifying time. In the process, he lowered his own Bahamian national junior record of 10.31 that he established at the CARIFTA Games last year in Nassau.

Back in hurdling form

In the men's 400m hurdles, Grand Bahamian Jeffery Gibson delighted the home crowd in taking the tape in 50.71. Andre Colebrook of RK Athletics was second in 52.23 and Kamrinn King of Quick Step Athletics got third in 1:05.10.

On the field,Trevor Barry turned the tables on Jamal Wilson to win the men's high jump. Neither was at their best, but Barry soared 2.20 metres to knock Wilson into second place with 2.15m. Ryan Ingraham was third with 2.10m.

"I feel alright. I wanted to clear 2.30m. That was my goal," said Barry, who climbed from third place last year. "I wanted to get some quality jumps in and try and qualify for the Worlds. I had some quality jumps today, but I didn't clear them. I am not on the Pan Am team, but my agent wants me to go to Europe, so hopefully I can qualify for Worlds when I go."

Wilson was quite disappointed with his performance. "The event didn't go too well. I would say it didn't go as planned," Wilson said. "I wanted to go better than 2.15m. I get what God gave me. I just hope to go to Pan Am and improve on what I didn't do today.

"I felt good. The humidity caught up to me going into the 2.20. The atmosphere was a little still, so it was a little hard to create that energy from within. It just didn't work out."

Triple threat

Kaiwan Culmer, competing unattached, won the men's triple jump with a leap of 15.61m (51-2 3/4) in a field that included female national record holder Tamara Myers. Lathone Collie-Minns got second with 15.35m (50-4 1/2). Collie-Minns' twin brother Latario Collie-Minns didn't make the trip to Grand Bahama to defend his title.

Myers took the ladies' title with 13.40m (43-11 3/4).

Double dose of victory

Bahamian decathlon national record holder Ken Mullings had to compete all by himself in both the shot put and discus. He produced marks of 12.08m and 41.75m respectively. Although he didn't have any competition, he said he used the meet to help prepare him for the field events in the decathlon when he heads to the Pan Am Games.

The Nationals served as a trial for the World Championships as the team for the Pan American Games was selected, ratified and announced by the Bahamas Olympic Committee earlier this month.