by : Shayne Stubbs
The Scotiabank/BTC Bahamas National Track and Field Nationals came to a climax this past Wednesday afternoon at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex.
At end of the evening the unofficial male and female division winners were announced.
Taking first place in the girls’ under 14 division were the Bishop Michael Eldon Warriors with 98.50 points. Second was North Andros High with 97.50 points and the Sister Mary Patricia Russell Panthers in third with 69 points.
Queen’s College was named as the girls’ Under 16 champions with 109 points. The Tabernacle Baptist Christian Academy Falcons took second with 96 points and Saint John’s College came in third with 83 points.
The Q.C Comets also won the girls’ under 18 division with 162 points, followed by BMES with 81 points and Saint Anne’s School with 68 points.
The C.R Walker Knights won the girls’ under 20 division with 176 points, Q.C followed in second with 143 points and BMES took third with 99 points.
For the males, in the under 14 division, the Falcons took first place with 85 points, followed by C.H Reeves with 68 points and Jack Hayward Junior High with 51 points.
Q.C were the under 16 division winners with 128.50 points, followed by North Andros High with 96 points and the Falcons with 93 points. The Falcons dominated the under 18 Division, taking first place with 121 points, followed by North Andros High with 95 points and Q.C with 94 points.
The Falcons under 20 boys also controlled their division with a first place finish and 162 points in the standings. Q.C took second with 142.50 points and C.R Walker came third with 123 points.
Day one
The 400m finales took place shortly before the fastest athletes in the nation were determined. Alco Smith of Tabernacle Baptist (TBCA) picked up the gold in the under 14 boys’ 400m dash, while Danah Lafleur of Bishop Michael Eldon School (BMES) became the national champion in the girls’ 400m race. Alco Smith of TBCA took the under 14 boys’ gold medal in the 400m championship.
Wendira Moss won the under 16 400m crown for St. John’s. Gareth Lewis of Queen’s College claimed the under 16 boys’ 400m gold.
Tanajah Grant of BMES scored the national crown in the girls’ under 18, 400m finale and Correy Sherrod of St. Paul’s Methodist took the under 18 boys’ championship. Brittini Bethel of Sunland Baptist Academy reeled in the girls’ under 20 championship and Holland Martin took hauled in the gold for the under 20 boys 400m finals.
Day two
During the morning session the Under 16 girls’ high jump took place where Queen’s College’s Tylar Lightbourne and Eight Mile Rock High’s Hiltranique Pinder battled for the gold medal. They also went after the new national high school record.
In the end it was Lightbourne taking the gold with a new record of 1.59m, leaving Pinder to settle for silver with a final mark of 1.57m.
Day two’s evening session of the Scotiabank/BTC Bahamas National Track and Field Championships featured the crowning of the fastest 200 meters sprinters and the 4x100m sprinters.
In the 200m, Danah LaFleur of Bishop Michael Eldon School earned another gold medal for the competition as the under 14 girls’ national champion. She clocked 26.13 seconds ahead of Collinique Farrington of Tabernacle Baptist (TBCA) who clocked 27.05, and Ebony Kelly of BMES.
Eight Mile Rock High’s Damico Austin came away with the under 14 boys’ national gold medal for the 200m with a time of 24.54. He edged St. Anne’s speedster Davon Johnson who finished with a time of 24.62. Deangelo McKie of TBCA finished took bronze in 25.16.
Wendira Moss out of St. John’s College took the 200m gold in the girls’ under 16 championship. She clocked 25.16. Queen’s College’s Tylar Lightbourne carried away the silver in 25.98 and Genique Basset of TBCA took the bronze medal in 26.81.
Sunland Baptists’ Kendal Culmer edged two Q.C sprinters to carry away the national Under 16 boys’ gold medal. He outlasted Nathan Moss (silver) and Shaun Miller (bronze) in the effort.
CARIFTA silver medalist Devine Parker ran away with the gold in the under 18 girls’ 200m sprint and the new national high school record of 24.39. Rashan Darling and Kendesha Ingraham of St. John’s took the silver and bronze respectively.
TBCA’s Johnathan Smith retained his crown as national 200m champion with another gold in the under 18 boys’ championship. He even lowered the high school national record to 21.84. He set the old record at 21.88. Max Azor of Queen’s College took the silver and Shaquille Higgs of TBCA came away with the bronze.
Sunland Baptist’s Brittini Bethel added another national championship with gold in the under 20 girls 200m in 25.14 seconds. Renee Brown of C.R Walker took the silver and Dawayna Pratt out of Q.C took the bronze. Kendrick Thompson of TBCA came away with another national championship gold medal in the under 20 boys’ 200m finals in 21.31 seconds to set a new H.S national record.
The 4x100m finals followed shortly after. In the under 14 girls finale the Warriors of BMES took away the gold in the time of 53.64 seconds. North Andros High took the silver and the Panthers of Sister Mary Patricia Russell (SMPR) took the bronze.
For the under 14 boys the TBCA Falcons added another gold medal in the time of 51.32 seconds. C.H Reeves Jr. High took the silver and the SMPR Panthers took the bronze.
The Q.C Comets took the national gold medal in the girls’ under 16, 4×100 finale in 50.66 seconds. St. John’s hauled away the silver and the TBCA Falcons took the bronze.
Q.C continued to own the under 16 division, after they took gold in the boys’ 16 finale. The TBCA Falcons took the silver and Preston Albury High settled with the bronze.
The under 18 girls of St. Anne’s took home the gold in the 4x100m championship. Q.C came away with the silver medal and BMES secured the bronze.
The TBCA Falcons took the under 18 boys’ 4x100m national championship over the BMES Warriors who took silver and C.V Bethel who took bronze.
Q.C stood as the girls’ Under 20 4x100m champions at the end of the evening, followed by C.R Walker who took silver and BMES who took bronze.
The TBCA Falcons finished the evening off as national champions of the under 20 boys 4x100m. Abaco Central High took the silver and Q.C carried the bronze medal.
Day Three
The 4×400 meters finals brought the events to a close and the spectators to their feet.
Taking the gold in the girls’ under 14, 4x400m finale were the Warriors of Bishop Michael Eldon School. The Tabernacle Baptist Christian Academy Falcons (TBCA) Falcons were the gold medal winners of the under 14 boys’ finale.
In the under 16 division, the St. John’s College (SJC) Giants picked up the gold for the 4x400m finals, with the TBCA Falcons taking the silver and the C.H Reeves Raptors capturing the bronze.
The Queen’s College Comets continued their dominance of the under 16 division with a gold medal win in the boys’ 4x400m finals. The TBCA Falcons walked away with the silver medal.
The St. George’s Jaguars under 18 boys had the fastest time entering the 4x400m finals and ran away with the gold when it was all said and done. The BMES Warriors captured the silver and the TBCA Falcons carried away the bronze.
The Queen’s College Comets ran away as national champions of the under 18 girls’ 4x400m sprint. St. Anne’s followed behind to take the silver and the BMES Warriors took the bronze.
The Comets took gold once again in the girls’ under 20 finals to go along with a new national high school record of three minutes and 48 seconds. The BMES Warriors were the silver medal winners and the C.R Walker Knights took the bronze.
The Comets also captured the gold in the boys’ Under 20 finale, followed by the TBCA Falcons, who took silver, and the St. George’s Jaguars with the bronze.
The morning session featured a few more records being set. After setting the under 16 boys javelin high school record (54.29m) on day two, Sean Rolle of Preston Albury High in Eleuthera set the high school record in the discus at 42.28m to win the gold.
The boys’ under 18 high jump finals came down to Government High School’s Kyle Alcine and St. John’s Stonny Duncanson as the final two jumpers for the gold and the high school national record. Both athletes went on to tie the national high school record of 2.00m (6’6.7”). However, it was Alcine who eventually won the gold and set the new high school mark of 2.02m (6’7.5”).
