A record number of junior athletes in the country have qualified for the upcoming CARIFTA Track and Field Championships, leaving the executive members of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) to make tough decisions when the two days of head-to-head competition climaxes on Saturday. The annual CARIFTA Trials, sponsored this year by Colina Insurance Ltd., starts today at the Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium. More than 500 athletes have registered to compete this year. The BAAA is expecting to field a team of 70 athletes for the Easter weekend championships which will be held in Hamilton, Bermuda. BAAA President Mike Sands is excited not only about the number of registered athletes, but also those events he has listed as marquee. "We are looking forward to a very, very exciting and competitive trials this weekend," said Sands. "I am advised that there may be more than 500 athletes who are registered to compete in this year's trials and who are trying to earn spots on the team. To date, this is the largest number of athletes who have achieved the standards set. I think we have some 20-plus athletes who have already met the standards. Even though they have met them, it comes down to the head-to-head competition in the various categories. "Even though we will like to refer to all of the events as marquee, there are some that will definitely receive standing ovations. I consider any event that Shaunae Miller competes in as marquee. I am not sure of the events that she has registered for but she is a phenomenon, and can run in any event she chooses. She is versatile so we will have to wait and see. Anthonique Strachan is back in town for the trials. She has indicated that she is ready to run. Then we have Carmeisha Cox and Devynne Charlton as well as the athletes from Freeport and the Family Islands." The trials will start at 5 p.m. today and 3 p.m. on Saturday. The first event on the track will be the 110 meters (m) hurdles for heptathletes. This will be followed by the 110m hurdles for under-17 boys and under-20 boys. The heats and finals of the 100m and 400m will be held later tonight. On the field will be the under-20 girls high jump, triple jump and discus. The under-20 boys long jump is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Since the BAAA will like to field a full team for the CARIFTA championships, Sands made sure that all the top athletes will be at the trials. He said that the association has made arrangements to assist athletes from Grand Bahama and the Family Islands. Airfare and hotel accommodations were provided to a number of athletes for the two nights. The BAAA will ratify the team on Sunday. Sands said: "We are looking forward to fielding a very balanced team but we know that there are some weaknesses especially on the field. There are some areas we are weak in and some categories that we should be able to dominate, like the under-20 girls, but even in this division there are little signs of weaknesses, like the pole vault. We wish we had a little more strength in there, but at the end of the day I am comfortable knowing that we will have a balanced team going into Bermuda. I expect that we will have some fine performances through the divisions." The Bahamas placed fourth at last year's championships that were held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, with a total of 30 medals. The team collected eight gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze. Host country Jamaica won 66 medals to win the championships - 32 gold, 23 silver and 11 bronze.

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