Athletes to try again to reach Carifta standards

Ulanda Lewis was the lone athlete at last Saturday’s Carifta trials staged at the Sion Hill Playing Field, to have made the mark set by Team Athletics SVG.

Lewis, a sprint double bronze medallist in the Under-17 age group at last year’s Carifta Games held in the Cayman Islands, clocked 12.20 seconds in the 100m.

For 2020 selection, Team Athletics SVG has set 12.25 seconds as the standard.

However, at the Joseph Payne Memorial held in Barbados last month, Lewis had done 12.19 seconds.

Before Saturday, she had made the 200m standard at the said Barbados event, when she timed 24.86 seconds. The mark for 200m qualification is 24.98 seconds.

Similarly, Uroy Ryan and Handal Roban both made the standards in their respective events.

The two, who are students at Jamaica College, attained the standards at meets in Jamaica.

Ryan thus has qualified for the Boys Under-17 long jump and high jump.

In the long jump Ryan leapt 6. 82 metres, with the minimum standard set by Team Athletics SVG being 6.50 metres. Ryan also has attained the 1.85m standard in the high jump.

Meanwhile, Roban, who won bronze at the 2019 Carifta Games in the Boys Under-20 800 m, has again made the qualification standard for the event.

With Team Athletics having set 1 minute 56 seconds as the qualification, Roban at the Youngster Goldsmith National Athletic Classic, did 1 minute 54.37 seconds, thus setting a new meet record.

Whilst Lewis, Ryan and Roban, have qualified for the trip to Bermuda in April, there are others who came close to the standards at last Saturday’s trials.

Among those just outside the marks were Nellie Ambriton, Amal Glasgow and Kyle Lawrence.

In the Boys Under-17 800m, Ambriton timed 2 minutes. 00.48 seconds, just off the 2 minutes flat by Team Athletics SVG.

Likewise, Glasgow, in the Boys Under-17 400m, clocked 50.18 seconds, slower than the 49.96 seconds, which is the standard for the event.

And, Lawrence in the Boys Under-17 100m, did 11.17 seconds. The set mark for the event is 11.00 seconds.

Reports are that some of the athletes will be sent overseas to compete on synthetic surfaces, with the view of providing them with other opportunities to make the standard.

It was also expressed that last Saturday’s event was severely affected by the heavy cross winds that existed at the Sion Hill Playing Field.

Last Saturday’s Carifta trials were witnessed by two former national athletes, Jacintha Ballantyne and Francis Williams, who were part of the first Junior Carifta Games held in Barbados, in 1972.