It was a windy Saturday, but that didn’t stop Kendrick Thompson from putting his name in the national record books of The Bahamas, taking down the open men’s decathlon record of 7,517 points that was done by previous record holder Ken Mullings at the Pan American Games in August 2019.
In fact, both Thompson and Mullings surpassed the old record in a thrilling multi events competition during the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Easter Classic 2021 at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.
Thompson, who participated for the University of The Bahamas (UB) Mingoes, went into the second day of competition with 4,015 points while Mullings had 3,952 points. Mullings came close to Thompson on the final day but fell two points shy – 7,644 points to 7,642 points.
Former UB athlete Mullings, who now runs for Power Athletics, made quite a charge on the final day of competition but just fell short. The rivals pushed each other to fantastic performances in each event, particularly on the final day of competition.
Thompson won the 100 meters (m), the long jump, the 400m, the javelin throw and the 1,500m events.
Carlos Brown Jr. had a good day on the track in the under-17 boys 100m and 200m sprints. The Swift Athletics athlete powered his way to a wind-aided time of 10.39 seconds to win the 100m final. The 16-year-old came into the final with the fastest time of a wind-aided 10.79 seconds in the preliminaries. He qualified for CARIFTA a few weeks ago.
DTSP Wolfpack’s Jeremian Adderley finished second with a time of 10.65 seconds. Finishing third was Red-Line Athletics’ Jonathan Fowler who powered his way in 10.89 seconds.
Brown was later masterful in the 200m as he won after posting a CARIFTA qualifying time of 21.49 seconds. Adderley was second once again when he posted a CARIFTA qualifying in 21.84 seconds. Coming away with the final podium position in that race was Red-Lines’s Clinton Laguerre as he clocked 22.41 seconds.
A week after qualifying for CARIFTA in the 200m, Fast Forward Athletics’ Wanya McCoy came back to pull off another first place finish in that event. The 18-year-old managed to clock a wind-aided 21.36 seconds.
“From the start, I was going hard. When I got on the straight, I almost fell. I managed to finish but I could have gone faster. I am happy but I know that I can go lower than my qualifying time,” McCoy said.
The Wolfpack’s Lamont Moss posted the second-fastest time of 21.62 seconds. It was Red-Line’s Shimar Bain who finished in third position after clocking 21.64 seconds.
McCoy said he is looking to run 20.50 seconds in the 200m this season. He was also in action in the 100m. McCoy completed the double after posting a blistering wind-aided time of 10.59 seconds to win the 100m final. His teammate Zachary Evans was second in 10.64 seconds. Moss was third in this race as he ran 10.75 seconds.
In the under-20 girls 200m, Red-Line’s Lacarthea Cooper ran a World Athletics Under-20 (U20) Championships qualifying time of 24.23 seconds to win that event. Fast Forward’s Shavantae Roberts was second in 25.23 seconds. The Bahamas High Performance’s Danielle Saunders was third in 25.33 seconds.
Cooper also achieved the CARIFTA ‘B’ qualifying time in the under-20 girls 400m after clocking 55 seconds. She was able to hold off Fast Forward’s Javonya Valcourt who ran 55.21 seconds to also go under the CARIFTA ‘B’ standard. Bahamas High Performance’s DeAvae Adderley was a distant third place when she crossed the finish line in 1:01.45.
Laguerre was able to achieve the CARIFTA ‘B’ standard after he was the only competitor to go under 50 seconds in the 400m. He won with a time of 49.90 seconds. Bahamas Speed Dynamics’ Lavardo Deveaux was timed in 52.18 seconds. Finishing third was Fast Forward’s Berkley Munnings in 52.87 seconds.
Fast Forward’s Kasha Neilly powered her way to achieve the CARIFTA standard in the under-20 girls 400m hurdles. She posted a time of 1:06.38. Power Athletics’ Keianna Cambridge came second after posting a time of 1:09.75. Coming in a distant third place was Red-Line’s Shanai Sweeting who posted a time of 1:14.34.
It was a good trip for Androsian Nathaniel McHardy as he threw 14.82m (48’ 7-1/2”) to win the under-17 boys shot put event. The Andros Heats athlete said he was happy with his performance.
“I am happy but I feel like I could have done better, and I will do better,” McHardy said. “In Andros we use what we have and make the best out of it. We can’t complain because people have worse.”
Blue Chip Athletics’ Zion Evans threw 11.91m (39’ 1”) to finish second. Placing third was A.G.S Athletics’ Tamario Petty with a throw of 11.78m (38’ 7-3/4”).
There were eight athletes from the club, located in Nicholl’s Town, North Andros, who participated in the meet. Head Coach of the club Patricia Rolle was proud of the athletes’ performances.
“We came to perform,” Rolle said. “I am so proud of them and I am ready to work harder with them. I see where they would have wanted to accomplish their goal. I am just proud. I want to see us doing even greater things. The team has grown a lot and I am ready to work with them and take them to higher heights.”
Kaden Cartwright led a trio of Blue Chip throwers in the under-17 boys javelin throw. He was already a qualifier for CARIFTA but he turned in a personal best performance with a winning throw of 55.39m (181’ 8-3/4”).
“I feel good. I was working hard, and I felt that I deserved it,” Cartwright said. “On that throw, I was feeling nervous and I know that I had to be faster on the runway. I aimed at the jumbotron, got my technique together and threw 55m.”
The 15-year-old is looking to throw 60m before CARIFTA. The CARIFTA Games are slated for mid-August.
Robert Deal was second after he attained a distance of 42.05m (137’ 11-1/2). Kristian Mondesir threw 26.21m (86’) to finish third.
Competing in the
women’s open triple jump was Tamara Myers. She leapt for 13.85m (45’ 5-1/4”), and defeated her lone competitor, Ireland’s Grace Furlong. The Irish athlete finished with a leap of 12.18m (39’ 11-1/2”). Furlong has been here since January training.
“The meet was good,” Furlong said. “There was a lot of wind today so there was a little bit of inconsistency in my run up. My first jump was my best one. I fouled my next five and it wasn’t great but it was great to get the experience of jumping because back home, it is totally shut down. I was a little off from my personal best.”
This was the season opener for Furlong.
Next up on the local track scene is the DTSP Wolfpack Track and Field Meet set for Saturday April 10 at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.
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