A relay gaffe by the United States of America (USA) enabled The Bahamas to run away with the its first men's 4x400 meters (m) title at the 120th running of the Penn Relays Carnival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this past weekend.
The Bahamas' quartet of Michael Mathieu, Demetrius Pinder, Chris Brown and Ramon Miller, the same four who galloped to London Olympics gold two years ago, won the USA vs. the World men's 4x400m event, in a time of 3:00.78. The American team of Kyle Clemons, Kind Butler, David Verburg and Manteo Mitchell, in that order, finished second in a distant 3:03.31, just barely holding off Brazil's team of Pedro De Oliveira, Wagner Cardoso, Anderson Henriques and Hugo De Sousa, in that order, which finished third in a time of 3:03.32.
It was the baton mix-up after the third leg which had everyone talking afterwards though.
After a fantastic leg by American Verburg, he and Brown came into the line at the same time on the third leg. However, American anchor Mitchell took his eyes off the baton and mistakenly grabbed The Bahamas' baton. An alert Ramon Miller grabbed the baton back and took off on his anchor leg. Mitchell, the same athlete who broke his leg in the heats of the London Olympics, had to stop and retreat to Verburg for the correct baton, thereby setting them back immensely in the 1,600m relay race. It was one of the strangest things one would ever see in track and field.
Miller said that in situations like that, you just have to remain focussed.
"There was some confusion, but with me being a veteran athlete you have to be prepared for those types of situations," said Miller on Saturday. "You have to be a quick thinker, and I am a quick thinker. I was able to find a way to get the baton and get it around the track. At the end of the day, it was their error, and we just capitalized on it."
The Bahamas tampered with the order from the London Olympics, choosing to lead off with Mathieu as opposed to Brown. Mathieu led off in 45.7, Pinder ran a 44.7 split on the second leg, Brown turned in a 45.09 split, and Miller anchored in 45.32. Verburg was strong for the U.S., that operated without multi World and former Olympic Champion LaShawn Merritt. Verburg ran a 44.50-second split on his leg, but a savvy Chris Brown wouldn't let Verburg get around him, forcing Verburg to run the final 200 meters of his leg in the outside lane.
"I felt him coming, so I had to turn up the burners," said Brown. "I just want to hank God for bringing us through healthy, and allowing us to run a clean race. I was expecting to just go out there and chill, but the dude tried to put a challenge to me. I'm not going to let a challenge go, so I had to back it up. I was just looking to run a smooth race, but it turned out to be a dog fight," he added.
Back healthy after a tumultuous 2013 campaign, Pinder said that he is just elated to be running again, and contributing to the team in a major way.
"First of all, I have to give God thanks for all of us coming out of the race healthy," he said. "We're pretty much happy with the result and the time. It's good for the first relay of the season for us. With the line-up, we're going to keep playing with it. We're not exactly sure what we're going to do as yet. It was a good line-up, and we're satisfied with the result."
Pinder said that he feels completely healthy, and is looking forward to the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2014.
The inaugural International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Relay Championships will be held May 24-25, at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, right here in The Bahamas.
"We're definitely looking to go faster at the world relays," said Brown. "All of the guys are healthy and we should all be running well by then. We're looking forward to big things in The Bahamas. I think that we still have a lot of work to do. Everyone is coming to our home, so we have to be ready. We're looking forward to the challenge."
As to running the third leg this time, as opposed to leading off or running the anchor like he has done for most of his career, Brown said that he's willing to do whatever it takes to help the team run its best possible time.
"Well it's all strategic. We want to keep the competition guessing," he said. "Anyone of us can come out of the blocks (lead-off), and we have to get in that mind frame. We feel good about it."
Mathieu was given the dubious task of leading off this time, and he responded admirably, giving The Bahamas a lead on the opening leg.
"I think that any one of us could run any position," he said. "I was just trying to put our team in a good position and I was able to do that. To run that time early in the season is pretty good. We're looking forward to running again at the world relays. We feel confident about our chances," he added.
Miller said that he's comfortable anchoring the team, and is looking forward to them dominating at home, no matter who the U.S., or anyone else for that matter, bring to these shores.
"After a year like last year when a lot of guys got injured, including myself, we just thank God that we're healthy again," he said. "Everything will come in time. We thank the Lord for the win first and foremost - that's what matters right now. We're going to be a factor no matter who they (U.S.) use in the race. We're going to always be in the equation. The world relays is about a month away, and we're looking forward to going out there and representing The Bahamas well."
The Bahamas' men's 4x400m squad wasn't the only relay team from The Bahamas which experienced success this past weekend.
St. Augustine's College (SAC) girls 4x100m relay squad won the High School Girls small schools consolation prize, taking the tape in 47.32 seconds. The Queen's College (QC) Comets was fourth in that same race, running a time of 47.85 seconds. Nansemond River out of Suffolk, Virginia, finished second in that race, in 47.49, and Bullis School, from Potomac, Maryland, was third ahead of QC, in 47.54 seconds. About 340 schools took part in that competition.
In the High School Girls large schools competition, C.V. Bethel finished fourth in its heat and 121st overall, out of 250 schools, in 51.67 seconds. Edwin Allen took the Championships of America title in 44.70 seconds. The top three schools were from Jamaica. Holmwood was second in 45.43 seconds, and Wolmer's Girls was third, in 45.62 seconds.
In the High School Girls 4x400m competition, the QC Comets failed to make the Championships of America, finishing fifth in their heat in 3:57.94. SAC took part in the High School Boys 4x400m competition, but also failed to make the Championships of America final. The team of Xavier Coakley, Carlos Outten, Justin Pinder and Kinard Rolle, finished fifth in their heat in 3:20.42. The Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins had the best performance by a Bahamian team in that event, finishing second in their heat, in 3:18.06. Despite their strong time, the team of Claudius Russell, Janeko Cartwright, Adrian Gibson and Phillip Mitchell still failed to make the Championships of America final.
In the High School Boys small schools 4x100m, Doris Johnson won their heat and were 17th overall, in 43.20 seconds. SAC was third in their heat, and 38th overall, in 43.91 seconds. A total of 297 schools took part in the High School Boys small schools 4x100m.
In the College Men's 4x100m, The College of The Bahamas' (COB) team of Talbot McKinney, Dominique Collie, Avery Thompson and Justin Gray, finished sixth in their heat and 44th overall out of 92 schools, in 42.27 seconds. Their 4x200m relay squad of McKinney, Thompson, Clarence Major and Dominique Collie, was 49th out of 51 schools, in 1:34.01.

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