After finishing with just one gold medal and a seventh-place finish at the CARIFTA Games earlier this year, The Bahamas proved that not much is broken with its junior athletics program, as the country sealed six gold medals and a fourth place finish at the 20th Central American and Caribbean Junior Track and Field Championships, in Morelia, Mexico this past weekend.
Overall, The Bahamas' 35-member team finished with 20 total medals, seven gold, eight silver and five bronze. Host country Mexico won the meet with a whopping 100 medals - 36 gold, 43 silver and 21 bronze; Jamaica was second with 43 total medals - 15 gold, 17 silver and 11 bronze; and Trinidad & Tobago rounded out the top three nations with 22 total medals - 10 gold, five silver and seven bronze. The Bahamas settled for fourth, and Puerto Rico was a close fifth with 20 total medals - six gold, five silver and nine bronze. The order of finish is based on gold medal count, and it was The Bahamas' best showing at the CAC Juniors in 22 years.
One of the biggest gold medals for The Bahamas came in the under-20 boys long jump where LaQuan Nairn notched a personal best leap of 7.55 meters (m) - 24' 9-1/4" - to win the competition by two centimeters and qualify for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Junior Championships in the process. Ricardo Morales, from Mexico, won the silver medal with a best leap of 7.53m (24' 8-1/2"), and Shamar Rock, from Barbados, settled for the bronze with a best leap of 7.47m (24' 6-1/4").
Another impressive gold medal for The Bahamas came in the under-18 boys high jump. Ken Mullings cleared a personal best height of 2.05m (6' 8-3/4") to hold David Juarez of Mexico and Jah-Nhai Perinchief of Bermuda. Both Juarez and Perinchief cleared 2.02m (6' 7-1/2"). Based on number of knockdowns, Juarez took the silver, and Perinchief won the bronze.
In the under-20 girls triple jump, Dannielle Gibson was short of her personal best of 12.85m (42' 2") which was done at the BTC National Open and Junior Track and Field Championships, but she still had enough to win the gold medal, with a distance of 11.94m (39' 2-1/4"). Mexico took silver and bronze in this event with Lidia Rodriguez winning the silver with a distance of 11.40m (37' 5"), and Luisa Rejon winning the bronze with a leap of 11.05m (36' 3").
The final gold medal in the field for The Bahamas came in the under-20 boys discus. Khyle Higgs just missed qualifying for the world juniors with a distance of 54.64m (179' 3"). The qualifying distance for the world juniors is 55m (180' 5") flat. Mexico once again got the silver and bronze in this event, with Uzziel Munoz taking the silver with a best throw of 51.87 (170' 2"), and Alberto Vargas winning the bronze with a best throw of 49.42 (162' 1").
The Bahamas picked up three more gold medals in track events. There was a 1-2 punch for The Bahamas in the under-18 girls 200m, as Brianne Bethel and Jenae Ambrose were first and second in times of 24.10 seconds and 24.18 seconds respectively. Shanice Reid, from Jamaica, was third, in 24.24 seconds.
In the under-20 girls version of that race, Keianna Albury powered to the gold medal, in a personal best of 23.54 seconds. The Trinidad & Tobago duo of Zakiya Denoon and Kayelle Clarke won silver and bronze in times of 23.63 and 23.71 seconds respectively.
Albury, Bethel and Ambrose were all under the world juniors qualifying time of 24.50 seconds.
The final gold medal for The Bahamas came in the under-20 girls 100m hurdles where Devynne Charlton ran a personal best time of 13.56 seconds to go significantly under the world juniors qualifying time of 14.20 seconds. Andrea Vargas from Costa Rica won the silver medal in 13.72 and Akila McShine from Trinidad & Tobago claimed the bronze, in 14.05 seconds.
One of the more impressive silver medals for The Bahamas came in the under-18 boys 100m. Keanu Pennerman ran a personal best time of 10.51 seconds to win the silver medal behind Jamaican Waseem Williams who ran a meet record of 10.47 seconds. Akanni Hislop, from Trinidad, won the bronze medal in a time of 10.63 seconds. Pennerman qualified for the world juniors with that run.
Ambrose was second behind her teammate Bethel in the under-18 girls 200m, and the other individual silver medal on the track for The Bahamas came in the under-18 boys 400m. Henri Delauze won the silver in a personal best time of 47.21 seconds, which was under the world juniors qualifying time of 47.70 seconds. Jamal Walton from the Cayman Islands ran a splendid race, winning the gold in a meet record of 47.01 seconds, and Jason Yaw, from Guyana, settled for the bronze behind Walton and Delauze, in 47.71 seconds. In that race, Walton broke Usain Bolt's meet record of 47.12 seconds.
In the field, The Bahamas got a silver medal from Denzel Pratt in the under-20 boys javelin. Pratt tossed the javelin 66.18m (217' 1") to finish second behind Trinidadian Shaquille Waithe who had a best throw of 70.39m (230' 11"). Orlando Thomas, from Jamaica, won the bronze medal with a best throw of 63.89m (209' 7").
The other four silver medals for The Bahamas came in the relays. The under-18 girls 4x100m relay team of Andira Ferguson, Jenae Ambrose, Charisma Taylor and Brianne Bethel, in that order, ran 46.76 seconds to finish second behind Jamaica which set a new meet record in 44.97 seconds. Mexico won the bronze in 47.32 seconds.
In the under-18 boys version of that race, The Bahamas' team of Keanu Pennerman, Tavonte Mott, Samson Colebrooke and Aaron Ross ran 41.76 seconds to win the silver medal behind Trinidad which ran 41.25 seconds. Puerto Rico won the bronze in 42.15 seconds. The Jamaicans were disqualified.
In the under-18 girls 4x400m, the team of Brianne Bethel, Amber Ford, Jenae Ambrose and Charisma Taylor won the silver medal for The Bahamas, in 3:56.06. Mexico took the gold in 3:50.63, and the Jamaican team was disqualified.
In the under-18 boys version of that race, the team of Kinard Rolle, Pennerman, Delauze and Samson Colebrooke won the silver medal, in 3:14.70. Trinidad & Tobago claimed the gold, in 3:13.93, and Jamaica settled for the bronze this time, in 3:16.27.
The Bahamas' only bronze medal in the field events came from Andira Ferguson in the under-18 girls long jump. Ferguson leapt 5.72m (18' 9-1/4") for the bronze. Rechelle Meade, from Anguilla, won the gold with a leap of 5.92m (19' 5-1/4"), and Shanique Wright, from Jamaica, settled for the silver with a best leap of 5.79m (19').
In the under-18 boys 100m hurdles, Tavonte Mott ran 13.82 seconds for the bronze medal. Roje Jackson-Chin, from Jamaica, ran 13.36 seconds for the gold, and Michael Nicholls, from Barbados, was second with a time of 13.66 seconds.
In the under-20 girls 400m hurdles, Talia Thompson won the bronze medal, in 1:01:57. Tia Adana Belle, from Barbados, circled the track for the gold medal in 1:00.30, and Paloma Morales, from Mexico, won the silver in 1:01.49.
In the under-20 girls 100m, Keianna Albury picked up another medal as she finished third in 11.56 seconds. Trinidad & Tobago won gold and silver in this event, with Alaliyah Telesford winning the gold, in 11.47 seconds, and Zakiya Denoon taking the silver, in 11.55 seconds.
The final bronze medal for The Bahamas came in the under-20 girls 4x100m. The team of Devynne Charlton, Talia Thompson, Dannielle Gibson and Keianna Albury, in that order, ran 45.73 seconds for the bronze. Trinidad won in a meet record of 44.24 seconds, and Jamaica settled for the bronze in 44.33 seconds.

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