At just 13-years-old, Doneisha Anderson is one of the young stars in track and field in the country.
She made her breakthrough at last year's CARIFTA Games right here in The Bahamas, winning three bronze medals on home soil - the 400 meters (m), 4x100m and 4x400m. Once again, Anderson has qualified for the regional junior meet, and is looking forward to bigger and better things this Easter holiday weekend in Fort-de-France, Martinique. She will be one of 19 girls in the under-18 division, and one of 79 members in total, who will represent The Bahamas at this year's CARIFTA Games.
Anderson ran 56.36 seconds for the bronze medal in the open quarter at last year's CARIFTA, but this year, she has consistently been around the 55-second barrier. Just this past weekend, she ran a new personal best of 55.06 seconds in finishing second in the under-18 girls 400m at the CARIFTA Trials.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Anderson yesterday of her second stint on the CARIFTA team. "I've put in a lot of hard work since a year ago, so I'm eager to get out there and see how it goes. I'm really aiming to run 53 seconds. Hopefully I can go there (Martinique) and put in a good performance."
Anderson trains under the tutelage of Olympic gold medalist Tonique Williams as a member of the TWD Athletics Club. She was one of two members from the club to qualify for the CARIFTA games this year - the other being 16-year-old Amber Ford, who is also making her second consecutive appearance on the CARIFTA team.
"With Tonique, it's good to be training with her. She knows how I feel about my competition and my races, so it's good to be training under her. My goal is to make the Olympics one day. I just have to keep working hard, and hopefully, I'll get there," she added.
Anderson said that the 400m is her best event, but she also runs the shorter sprints, and is a pretty good high jumper as well. In the 400m, she was beaten to the tape by this past weekend by Shaquanier Dorsett who posted a personal best time of 54.79 seconds. In the 200m, Anderson was third in 24.46 seconds behind Brianne Bethel (24.08 seconds) and Jenae Ambrose (24.44 seconds).
The other member from TWD Athletics to qualify for CARIFTA this year, Ford, ran a personal best time of 2:16.89 to meet the mark in the under-18 girls 800m. She was second in that event behind Dorsett (2:16.12). For Ford, this is her fourth year training under the guidance from Williams at TWD Athletics.
"I felt great about qualifying. I trained hard all season to compete at CARIFTA, and I'm glad that I will have the opportunity to," she said. "Last year, I ran 2:17, so I knew I had to go faster this year. I just want to go to Martinique and run another personal best time, and hopefully win the gold. It's a great opportunity (training under Tonique). She is very nice, rowdy when she is ready but it's all for the better. She teaches us as best as she can, and I feel comfortable with her. I started doing track and field as a hobby from primary school. Then I joined Tonique's track club and my times got better and better. I could see the improvement."
Ford, an 11th grade student at St. John's College, will be on the CARIFTA team for the second straight year. She said that she feels good about her progression, and is looking to drop a few more seconds off her personal best time, at the CARIFTA Games, over the Easter Holiday weekend, in Fort-de-France, Martinique.

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