By Kurtis Hinds
Saint Lucia’s Destinee Cenac won the first gold medal of the meet, with Barbadian Shaniah Mottley securing bronze, as the CARIFTA Games burst into action at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium in Grenada on Saturday morning.
Cenac cleared the bar with a best effort of 1.72m, ahead of Jamaica’s Stefvanco Henry (1.69m) and Mottley, who also cleared 1.69m.
On the track, Barbados’ Jahzara Inniss was fourth in the opening semifinal of the Under 17 Girls’ 400m in a time of 57.79 and did not advance, while compatriot Savannah Thorne was fourth in semifinal two, with her time of 57.20 seeing her advance to the final later in the day.
Taje Coward was fourth in the opening semifinal of the Under 17 Boys’ 400m, with his time of 49.58 being good enough to book a spot in the final, while Jalino Hamlett false-started and was disqualified.
Krystal Bentham did not start in her Under 20 Girls’ 400m semifinal, while Kadia Rock ran confidently to finish second in semifinal two, as she advanced with a time of 54.85 seconds.
Shamari Greenige-Lewis has the fourth fastest time heading into the Under 20 Boys 400m, after clocking 46.49 seconds to finish second in semifinal one, while Aidan Moore’s third-place finish in semifinal two in a time of 47.27 seconds was not good enough for a spot in the final.
St Lucia’s Joaqwan Alexander was fifth in semifinal one (47.94 secs) and also did not advance.
In more field event action, Barbadian Jahzaria Ward was twelfth in the Under 17 Girls’ Shot Put with a best effort of 10.84m, while Ajalah Cumberbatch finished eighth in the Under 17 Boys’ Javelin (45.11m). Naya Jules of Saint Lucia had a best effort of 41.59m and finished fifth in the Under 20 Girls’ Javelin.
There were mixed fortunes for Barbados in the Under 17 Boys’ 100m semis. Josiah Gill qualified for the final in 10.68 seconds, while Asher Branford clocked 11.14 and did not advance.
In the Under 17 Girls’ equivalent, neither Gia Greenidge (12.24) nor Taylor-Rai Wiggins (12.33) advanced.
The Under 20 Girls’ 100m semis saw Barbadian Aniya Nurse qualifying second fastest overall in 11.42 seconds, with her teammate Semara Olton qualifying with the eighth fastest time of 11.86 seconds.
Among the Under 20 Boys’, Dahrion Belgrave (10.56) and Shamri Addison (10.57) both failed to advance. (KH)
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