HAMILTON, Bermuda - Up until the under-20 girls' 800 meters (m) on Easter Sunday, The Bahamas had been completely wiped out in the distance events at these 41st CARIFTA Track and Field Championships here in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Teshon Adderley, a sophomore at Iowa Central Community College, salvaged some respect for the country in the distance events, Eleutheran Andre Colebrooke added substance in the under-20 boys' 800m, and Darren Young followed suit with a smooth smart run in the under-17 boys' 3,000m. They won silver, bronze and bronze respectively and The Bahamas increased its medal tally to 25 after two days of competition.
For Adderley, it was a personal best time, as she finished in 2:12.45. Jamaican Simoya Campbell won the gold, in 2:08.48, and Sonia Gaskin, from Barbados, won the bronze medal, in 2:14.54.
"I have to thank God first and foremost," said Adderley on Sunday night. "To have my best performance here at the CARIFTA Games for my country is a special feeling. I really wanted the gold, but I'll definitely settle for the silver. I decided to go strong from the 300. I fell a lil short today, but I'm very happy with the silver."
Adderley had finally broken the distance jinx for The Bahamas, and Queen's College standout Darren Young validated her performance with a strong run in the under-17 boys' 3,000 meters (m).
Young kept pace with the lead pack up until the halfway point of the race, fell apart from the top two, but was firmly in bronze medal position for the final two laps. Pius Emilien challenged him a bit on the final lap, but Young wasn't going to be denied a medal in his last year of eligibility in the under-17 division. He finished in 9:54.94 for the bronze medal. Webston Pennant, from Jamaica, won the gold medal, in 9:23.13, and Kenneth Benjamin, from Antigua and Barbuda, settled for the silver, in 9:28.76. Emilien was fourth, in 9:56.11, and Bahamian Cimeleo Darling, competing in his first CARIFTA Games, rounded out the top five, in 10:02.23.
"I tried to stay with them as much as I [could], but they got away from me on those last two laps," said Young on Sunday. "I just wanted to give it all I had on that last stretch to get a medal for The Bahamas," he added.
In the under-20 boys' 800m, Colebrooke used a strong second lap to snag the bronze medal away from John Haynes of Barbados. Colebrooke finished in 1:56.66. Mark London of Trinidad and Tobago won just their third gold medal of this meet, finishing in 1:55.65, and Shaquille Dill, from Bermuda, gave the hometown crowd something to cheer about as he won the silver medal, in 1:55.91. Haynes was fourth, in 1:58.84.
No other distance event produced a top three finish for The Bahamas. In the under-17 girls' division, Dreshanae Rolle finished seventh, in 2:25.93, and in that same race, Eyeiessia Darville was 10th, in 2:32.32. No Bahamian competed in the under-17 boys' race.

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