Bahamas' Carmiesha Cox, left, and the BVI's Nelda Huggins en route to grabbing CAC Jr. Championships U18 Girls 100m gold and silver
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, JUNE 30—Nelda Huggins became the eight BVI athlete to win a CAC Jr. Championships medal since Tracy Bradshaw and Keita Cline opened the account 20 years ago in Guatemala, when she snatched Under 18 Girls 100m silver in the XIX edition of the competition, being held in San Salvador, El Salvador through Sunday.
It was the territory’s 14th overall medal, the first in the 100m in any division and the third ever won on the track.
Huggins—who in April also bagged 100m silver during the Carifta Games in Bermuda in the U17 Girls division—ran a personal best of 11.83 seconds, splitting the Bahamian pair of Carmiesha Cox who had a winning time of 11.70 and bronze medalist Devynne Charlton’s 11.97. This year marks the first time that the U18 division is being introduced in keeping with the IAAF mandate.
Coming into the competition, Huggins had a personal best of 11.98 seconds from last year, when she collected Carifta Games bronze in Jamaica, which she lowered to 11.91 in the prelims. By cutting .08 off to 11.83 in the final, the mark moves her from No. 8 to No. 6 on the territory’s All Time Top 10 List.
Huggins—a 2014 Youth Olympic Games hopeful—doesn’t have time to rest on her laurels nor collect her award, as she’ll face the starters gun at 9:25 a.m. (11:25 Eastern Caribbean) this morning in the preliminary rounds of the 200m, with the finals scheduled for this evening.
Also in action last night, Eldred Henry settled for fourth place in the U20 Boys 1.75k Discus Throw, with a toss of 44.59m (146’3½”).
Brandon Andrew was 13th in the U18 Boys Long Jump after leaping 5.40m (17’8½”) on his second attempt.
BVI athletes will begin competition this morning with Carifta Games U17 Girls Javelin Throw winner Tynelle Gumbs, rolling out of bed early to begin competing with the 500g spear at 7 a.m.
Kyron McMaster—a 2011 CAC Age Group Championships High Jump silver medalist on home soil—will contest his pet event at 8 a.m.