11-12 Boys from Top Notch,
Sprint Tech and Hounds And Foxes Track Clubs compete in the 60m dash. PHOTO: Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
JUNE 1 Top Notch Track Club’s Xiomara “Gia” Malone teammate Malaki Smith and Sprint Tech Track Club’s Aria Smith, were the top performers in Saturday’s BVI Athletics Association CAC Age Group trials, which also saw five St. Croix athletes in action.
A competitive 13-14 Girls division saw Malone edging Sprint Tech’s Tashara Edwards by 26 points after leading by 85 heading into the 1000m, the final of seven events. Malone secured the victory after winning the 80m dash in 10.93 seconds and the 60m Hurdles in 10.74, then taking second in both the Long Jump with a 4.63m effort and cleared 1.45m in the High Jump, to score 3425 points in the seven disciplines.
Edwards used a personal best of 4.73m to win the Long Jump and a 36.98m effort in the Baseball Throw for a victory and followed up with second places in the 80m Dash (10.94) and the 1000m (3:36.20) to place second with 3399.
Teammate Dominique Moses scored 3197 for third and Top Notch’s Z’Niah Hutchinson-Corea, 3072. Hounds and Foxes Jusenia Tuitt outdistanced the field to win the 1000m in 3:23.60 and earned 2681 points. Teammate and captain Paige Combie was unable to finish after hurting herself in the High Jump.
Leading the competition with 1856 points heading into the final of five events in the 11-12 Girls Division, St. Croix’s T’Yannah Lake came to the starting line of the 800m with tears in her eyes, after being coaxed ahead of the event.
Whatever it was bothering her she put it behind. The Hounds and Foxes Track Club athlete moved from the back in the latter stages of the race to finish third in 2 minutes, 57.94 seconds, behind Sprint Tech Track Club’s Alisha Hayde’s 2:49.47 mark and teammate Aria Smith’s 2:54.85, to win the competition with 2189 points. Lake, a Baseball player, easily won the Baseball Throw with a 39.00m measurement and the Long Jump with a leap of 3.96m. Smith was seven points better than Hayde to finish second with 2088, to Hayde’s 2081. Xaria Penn accumulated 1581 points and Hounds and Foxes’ T’Anna Lake, 1380.
“What a day at the office. It’s always a pleasure to be in the BVI and as usual, the competition was fantastic,” Hounds and Foxes Coach Charles Golphin noted. “We haven’t had a lot of opportunities to do High Jump or Long Jump. But, T’Yannah Lake, a baseball All Star, she won the Long Jump, did a great job in High Jump. She won the Baseball Throw and even with an injury, she came in third in the 800m and came out on top. It’s a grueling event."
Top Notch Track Club’s Malachi Smith, who surfaced this year during the Inter Primary Championships after focusing on basketball, won the 11-12 Boys 60m in 8.04 seconds, the Baseball Throw with a heave of 56.35m, was second in the 1000m in 3:34.49, earned the division victory with 2864 points. Sprint Tech’s Sh’ael Lavacia, who trailed Top Notch’s Kybah Dawson by 70 points heading into the final event, finished 24 points ahead of Dawson, 2647-2620, after running 3:37.64 to Dawson’s 3:55.60 as they placed second and third overall respectively.
Sprint Tech’s Waynee Bell garnered 2555 points in fourth with Carliek Benjaman’s 2309 in sixth. Malike Romney, who missed the 60m dash to start the sequence of events, had 1177. Hounds and Foxes’ Makari Matthew-Lobby won the 1000m in 3 minutes 28.86 seconds to end the competition and placed fifth overall with 2329 points.
Four BVI athletes win in Puerto Rico
Tarkia Moses, Kyron McMaster, Karene King and Deya Erickson, were victorious in the weekend Puerto Rico national track and field championships. Moses shaved .10 off her 800m best to cross the line in 2 minutes 09.45 seconds. McMaster ran 53.49 seconds to win the 400m Intermediate Hurdles. Karene King won the 200m in 23.91 seconds after placing second in the 100m in 11.84. Deya Erickson won the U20 Girls 100m Hurdles in 14.57 seconds.