For an early season meet, the 2nd Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational (CBBI) will feature some compelling match-ups, comparable to some of the big meets in Europe. The meet is set for this Saturday, starting at 6 p.m., at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

One such match-up to watch will be The Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller going up against American Ashley Spencer in a renewal of their battles from past National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) indoor and outdoor seasons. Miller comes into the women’s 400 meters (m) on Saturday with a personal best time of 49.67 seconds, and Spencer has done a lifetime best of 50.28, but it was Spencer who prevailed on most occasions during their time in college. In their last meeting, Spencer got the better of Miller, winning the 2013 NCAA outdoor title in her personal best time of 50.28 seconds. Miller was second in 50.70 seconds.

Now, Spencer will be coming to Miller’s hometown, and the crowd will certainly be behind the silver medalist from last year’s world championships.

The men’s 400m will be stacked.

It won’t be a cakewalk for former world and current Olympic Champion Kirani James, of Grenada. American LaShawn Merritt is opting to run the 200m as opposed to the 400m, but James is expected to be challenged by Bahamians Steven Gardiner, Ramon Miller, LaToy Williams and Alonzo Russell, former world and Olympic Champion Jeremy Wariner of the United States, and Olympic relay bronze medalist Jarrin Solomon of Trinidad & Tobago. All with the exception of Russell have tun under 45 seconds in their careers.

The men’s 400m hurdles will be intense as well with former world champion Jehue Gordon, of Trinidad & Tobago, and world and Olympic medalist, Javier Culson, of Puerto Rico, challenging Bahamian world bronze medalist Jeffery Gibson.

Jamaican legendary sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown will be challenged by Trinidadian Michelle-Lee Ahye and Murielle Ahouré, of the Ivory Coast, in the women’s 100m. American LaShawn Merritt, the sixth fastest quarter-miler of all-time, will be running the 200m this Saturday, and he will be challenged by one of the Bahamian “Golden Knights”, and Bahamian national record holder in the event Michael Mathieu. American Justin Gatlin, who came within a hundredth of a second of dethroning triple world record holder Usain Bolt at last year’s Beijing World Championships, is expected to get a push from Femi Ogunode, of Qatar, in the men’s 100m.

“We definitely have a great field. Every one of our events is stacked with a lot of world and Olympic medalists,” said meet promoter Chris “The Fireman” Brown. “The athletes are looking forward to coming here and putting on a good show. Right now, we are just tying up a lot of the loose ends and getting the final preparations together. Everything is shaping up really well.”

A couple of field events will be intriguing as well.

Bahamian national record holder “Superman” Leevan Sands is welcoming the challenge of former Florida Gators teammates Christian Taylor and Will Claye in the men’s triple jump. Taylor is the second best jumper of all-time with his huge 18.21m (59’ 9”) leap at last year’s Beijing World Championships. Claye has done 17.75m (58’ 3”), and sands national record is 17.59m (57’ 8-1/2”), but the Bahamian has a knack for excelling against the best competition in the world. Americans Taylor and Claye are the gold and silver medalists respectively from the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

The men’s high jump will feature a quartet of Bahamian jumpers — Donald Thomas, Trevor Barry, Ryan Ingraham and Jamal Wilson — all quite capable of soaring over 2.30m (7’ 6-1/2”). Of the four, Ingraham is the only one yet to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics this summer, and with the CBBI being sanctioned by the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA), he will have an opportunity to do so this Saturday.

“We anticipate some very good performances in both the men’s high and triple jump events,” said Brown yesterday. “We’re looking forward to good competition. The goal is to continue to build this event for the future. Hopefully, we could have more sponsors come on board as the years go on, and just have the people ‘feel the fire’. We want to build this event to be the premier event in the Caribbean region. An event like this generally would cost you millions, so for us, to be able to have this event and not spend millions is a blessing.”

The visiting athletes will begin arriving in town on Thursday.

An added treat for the fans will be the relays. According to Brown, they are setting it up in the format of “The Bahamas vs. the USA”. It is anticipated that three Bahamian relay teams and two American relay squads will contest the men’s 4x400m race. Also, there is expected to be men and women’s 4x100m events.

“It’s all about giving the fans something to stand up on their feet and scream about,” said Brown. “It’s less than a week to go now, and we’re ready to go. The ticket sales are going pretty good. Last year, this time, people were just coming out to purchase tickets. This time around, people were purchasing tickets in advance, so that’s a blessing for us. We are ahead of where we were in 2013.

“For me, it’s good to see people purchasing tickets online and coming out to the box office and the mall and getting their tickets. We know that the Jamaican fans are going to come out in force, and we have a few American fans who will come out to watch the event, so we encourage Bahamians to continue purchasing tickets. It’s going to be a great event.”

Ticket sales are ongoing online at the website www.nsa-bahamas.com, at the box office at the stadium, or at the Mall at Marathon. About 5,000 fans attended the inaugural classic in 2013, but organizers are hopeful for a full stadium this time around as the hype around the event thus far has been phenomenal.

Sheldon Longley

Guardian Sports Editor

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