With a strong performance on the final day, The Bahamas finished with 10 medals at the 16th Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in Miramar, Florida - three gold, two silver and five bronze. Seven of the 10 medals came on the final day - two gold, two silver and three bronze.

Young Anthonique Strachan got the gold medal rush started for The Bahamas with a blazing run in the 200 meters (m) at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, on Saturday. Her record setting time of 22.70 seconds gave her the fastest half lap time by a Bahamian female this year. It was a personal best time for her, a new junior national record and the world leading junior time, according to the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) top performance list.

Strachan's performance was done on Saturday evening at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida. She crushed an eight-year-old meet record, 22.93 seconds, which was set by American Shalonda Solomon in 2003. The previous junior national record, 22.85 seconds, was set by Sheniqua Ferguson at the Scotiabank  came in the 400m hurdles for girls. Katrina Seymour, who has lowered the junior national record three times this season, ran 57.87 seconds on Sunday to win the event ahead of Danielle Dowie of Jamaica and Deborah Rodriguez of Uruguay, who turned in times of 58.55 seconds and 59.10 seconds respectively.

Shortly after Seymour's gold medal, the team of Devynne Charlton, Carmeisha Cox, V'Alonee Robinson and Strachan ran 45.04 seconds to win the Girls 4x100m relay. The Boys team clocked 40.26 seconds for third. That team included  Blake Bartlett, Shavez Hart, Delano Davis and Trevorvano Mackey.

The country's first silver medal was picked up by high jumper Ryan Ingraham on the final day of competition. About a half hour after that, Tamara Myers added the country's second silver medal, in the Girls Triple Jump. Ingraham got the silver behind Maalik Reynolds of the United States. Both jumpers cleared 2.22m (7' 3-1/4"), but Reynolds cleared the height on his first attempt giving him the gold medal, while Ingraham cleared the height on his second attempt. In the Girls Triple Jump, Myers leapt 12.85m (42' 2") for the silver medal behind Gisetty Landajuri's gold medal winning leap of 13.04m (42' 9-1/2"). Landajuri is from Colombia.

On Friday, Strachan placed third in the Girls 100m, trailing Michelle-Lee Ahye, of Trinidad & Tobago, and Keilah Tyson, of the United States, in 11.46 seconds.
Ahye's time was 11.25 seconds and Tyson ran 11.39 seconds. Bahamian V'Alonee Robinson was sixth overall, in 11.59 seconds. Carmeisha Cox ran 24.17 seconds in the 200m, for a seventh place finish in that event.

Two Bahamians lined up in the Boys 200m final - Bartlett and Mackey. Bartlett finished sixth in 21.33 seconds and Mackey followed, in eighth, in 21.49 seconds. Shavez Hart false started in the Boys 100m final, while Mackey failed to make the final, running a time of 10.51 seconds in the heats. The 15.93m (52' 3-1/4") landing in the triple jump for boys placed Latario Collie-Minns on the medal podium. Twin brother Lathone was sixth with a best jump of 15.44m (50' 8").

The other two bronze medals for The Bahamas came in the 1,600m relays. The Girls team of Strachan, Pedrya Seymour, Devynne Charlton and Katrina Seymour, ran 3:42.61 for the bronze medal behind the Americans (3:34.71) and the Canadians (3:38.99). The Boys team of Nejmi Burnside, Andre Wells, Shavez Hart and Julian Munroe, also finished third, crossing the finish line in 3:14.96. The Americans won in 3:08.20, and Trinidad & Tobago won the silver medal, in 3:13.27.
A seventh place finish was picked up by Jonathon Farquharson in the long jump, leaping 6.75m (22' 1-3/4"). Andre Wells didn't advance to the final of the Boys 400m running a time of 50.43 seconds in the heats. Patrick Bodie made it through to the final of the Boys 400m Hurdles, and finished fifth, in 54.38 seconds. Nejmi Burnside failed to qualify for the final, running a time of 55.26 seconds in the heats. Kenya Culmer jumped her way to seventh in the Girls High Jump, with a clearance of 1.70m (5' 7").

The time of 4:07.88 gave James Audley-Carey a 10th place overall in the Boys 1,500m. Andre Colebrook just missed out on making the final in the Boys 800m, running a time of 1:55.13 in the heats. He was the sole competitor in that event for The Bahamas. In the Boys Decathlon, Tre Adderley, failed to finish after getting injured after four events.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian