The Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium was active with local and international youth and junior track and field athletes as they competed at the inaugural Speed Capital International Championships this past weekend.
President of Speed Capital Luke Robinson said he was happy with the competition and that he chose The Bahamas to host the inaugural event.
"The competition was good," he said. "I think that various countries participating came together and put on a nifty show and the athletes left it out on the track. We had a little wind that probably adjusted their times slightly, but other than that, I think it was an outstanding show."
Participating at the meet were athletes from Canada, Kenya, the United States of America (USA), Jamaica, the British Virgin Islands, Aruba, Barbados, and the host nation The Bahamas. The athletes competed in divisions from six-and-under straight up to the open category.
Bahamian Jamiah Nabbie, from Fast Forward Athletics Club, a double winner from the 50th CARIFTA Games, was on the track running in the 200 meters (m) in the girls 15 and 16-year-olds division. She won the timed finals with 24.99 seconds with a headwind of 2.5 meters per second (mps). Finishing second was
Red-Line Athletics' Darvinique Dean who ran 25.74 seconds. Nabbie's teammate K'Leigh Davis powered her way to third place with a time of 26.05 seconds.
"I felt it was a bad race for me," Nabbie said. "I thank God for a safe race and that I won the race. I am now looking forward to the junior nationals in a few weeks."
Nabbie completed the double when she won the 100m with a time of 12.44 seconds. Placing second was Shayann Demeritte from Swift Athletics who ran 12.74 seconds. Dean was third in this race after posting a time of 12.93 seconds.
Bahamian youth athlete Keyezra Thomas ran in her final meet at home in the 13-14 girls division. In the 200m, the Speed Begins Track Club athlete clocked 24.66 seconds to comfortably win that event. Fast Forward's Zara Fraser was second in 26.73 seconds. DTSP Wolf Pack's Brion Ward ran 27.20 seconds to finish third.
Thomas also won the 400m and the long jump events. In the long jump, Thomas posted a leap of 5.09m (16' 8-1/2") to win. Finishing second was 3PA Stallions' Azaria Dean who jumped 4.34m (14' 2-3/4"). Placing third was Star Trackers' Jayla Smith who posted a leap of 4.29m (14' 1").
In the 400m, Thomas clocked 55.16 seconds to obliterate the field. Finishing second was Nevaeh Mackey, running 1:04.32, and Red-Line's Daveigh Farrington ran 1:05.71 to finish third.
There was a twist with this meet as race walking was on the schedule and Hurray Murray's Edney Russell was the sole competitor in the 3000m distance. He posted a time of 21:07.81.
"It was a painful race," Russell said. "No one competed with me, so that made it worse. I just moved my hands as quickly as possible because your arms carry your legs."
As mentioned earlier, it was the first time that the meet was held in The Bahamas. Robinson said there were some hurdles, and they will look to fix them and host a meet here in the foreseeable future.
"It was a tall task logistically. If I said that it was easy, I would be lying," Robinson said. "But what I can say is that when we look to our partners like the National Sports Authority, the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) and the various government ministries and agencies, that played a huge role in helping us work through those issues. They made it a lot more efficient, and it would have been more difficult without them. Looking forward to next year, I truly believe that this process will be easier, now that we got our feet wet."
Robinson added that he was pleased with the camaraderie that he saw among the athletes.
"Some of the athletes from the USA, who have been with us domestically, they were thrilled to build relationships and friendships," he said. "They are thrilled to have their athletes step outside of the norm to come outside and experience the magnitude of the stadium which played host to CARIFTA and the world relays next year."
Next up on the local track calendar is the BAAA Junior and Senior National Championships, set for July 5-7.
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