Women's 4x100m Relay Debuts in Penn Relays With 44.87

Karene King, left, Chantel Malone, Tahesia Harrigan-Scott and Ashley Kelly, ran together for the first time as a senior team, after running 44.34 in 2010

APRIL 30—For only the second time in its 42-year history, the BVI Athletics Association fielded a true Sr. Women 4x100m Relay team, when they lined up in the USA vs the World at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, competing against the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, USA Red and USA Blue.

The foursome of Tahesia Harrigan-Scott, Chantel Malone, Karene King and Ashley Kelly, placed seventh in 44.87 seconds. The quarter established the National Record of 44.34 in 2010 when Malone and Kelly were juniors.

Another team with Sanya Penn minus Malone ran 45.08 in Miami on April 14.

“The relay went fine but I think we have some issues in reference to hand offs,” starter Harrigan-Scott said. “This week I felt much better considering that I’m coming off the injury, my rhythm was bad but today I felt I did a good job. We pumped it up and we had a good hand off between Chantel and I.”

Harrigan-Scott said Malone ran good, had some killer people on her leg but held own and everybody else did a good job. “But, we have to make sure we get the baton around the track more effectively that way we can take time off,” she noted. “The more efficient we get, the faster we’ll get and that should make some major improvements in our time.”

King said the experience was great and she was happy to have another opportunity to run. “A little shaky with the handoffs but with a little more practice with each other we’ll be set to go,” she said. “We had nothing to loose but everything to gain and I think everybody did their part. With more baton practice, we’re well on our way.”  

Coach Willis “Chucky” Todman the BVI has arrived on the scene and can compete internationally. He said there are some things that can be fixed and they can be one of the better teams in the Caribbean and by becoming one of the better teams in the Caribbean, they’ll become one of the better teams in the world.

“One of our counterparts said to us, he would like to see us really getting our act together because come to the Olympic Games, of those 16 teams, he’d like to see eight Caribbean countries there and he figure with our horse power, we stand a good chance,” Todman explained. “As a team and as a group, we have to get together whether its for two weeks at a time, that’s the only way we are going to be able to do it. Over the last couple of years, St. Kitts has done it and everyone knows Bahamas and the Golden Girls, so I think the only thing we are lacking right now is the togetherness. If we work together we will accomplish a lot more than we are doing right now. Individually, they can matchup with anybody. We just haven’t gotten together stick wise.”