Tobago's Anson Moses stands alone in the decathlon at Pan Am Prep meet

ANSON Moses of Tobago Falcons, like many other athletes, had to overcome numerous challenges over the past 19 months during the covid19 pandemic, but Moses has developed a determined attitude and wants to raise the funds to accept a half scholarship to a US university in January.

The 21-year-old is the lone participant in the men’s decathlon Under-23 event at the National Association of Athletics Administrations Pan American Under-20 and Junior Pan American Under-23 Preparation Meet Three, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, in Port of Spain.

Moses wants to earn qualification for the Junior Pan American Under-23 Games scheduled for Cali, Colombia, from November 25. No athletes qualified for the Pan Am Games automatically on day one of the preparation meet.

On Saturday, Moses earned 3,403 points in the first five events of the decathlon which included the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m.

On Sunday, he will aim to accumulate as many points as possible in the 100m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m.

In the opening 100m event, he stopped the clock in 11.58 seconds to earn 736 points, before leaping 6.69 metres in the long jump to add a further 741 points.

The shot put was the next event for Moses where he snatched 539 points with a top throw of 10.89m.

He quickly switched focus to the high jump where he finished with a best effort of 1.84m to add 661 points to his tally.

Moses, who competed alongside the men’s Under-20 runners, took 726 points from the 400m event when he clocked 51.96.

Moses seemed satisfied with his 400m effort as he shouted with joy after crossing the finish line.

Moses was born in Lambeau, but now lives in Carnbee.

He said it is tough competing alone. He told Newsday, “It is actually very hard to compete in a decathlon alone because it is ten events, not one or two…and to go through those ten events by yourself is really challenging because you have nobody to pull you.”

Moses said because of covid19 there are no spectators to give you an extra drive.

Discussing his performance on day one, Moses said, “I feel very good about the performance today because today’s results actually set a new personal best for me on the first day of the men’s decathlon.”

Like other athletes, Moses has had his challenges during the pandemic as he had limited use of the Dwight Yorke Stadium over the past 19 months. “It is a real struggle because in Tobago in the Dwight Yorke Stadium we don’t have a pole vault mat whatsoever...I basically come out here and compete on raw strength and technique from (what I have learnt).”

Moses said at times he would only get access to Dwight Yorke Stadium for two-hour sessions which were not conducive because it can take an hour just to warm up.

He recently earned a half scholarship.

“I recently got a half scholarship to a university in the United States and I have to fund the rest of the money. I am asking for some assistance from the Government and I am also keeping three fund-raisers – one this month, one next month and one in December - to try and come up with the rest of money.”

He is aiming to enrol at Cloud County Community College in Kansas in January.

Moses has not let the pandemic prevent him from staying fit. “What I did was start an Instagram fitness live to actually keep myself fit while helping other people to work out and keep fit. That was helping me and motivating me to keep fit.”

Moses said the pole vault and the discus are his two weakest events on day two, but will need to earn as many points as possible. He needs over 6,300 points to qualify for the men’s Under-23 decathlon event at the Pan Am Games.

OTHER RESULTS

Men’s Under-23 5,000m

Stephon Gould – Richard Jones Racing – 15:58.87

Darian Nimblett – Phoenix – 19:19.74

Women’s Under-20 Discus

Brianna Percy – Tobago Falcons – 35.51m

Allesha Lindsay – Tobago Falcons – 34.18m

Women’s Under-23 Discus

Elizabeth Galera – Burnley AC – 41.68M

Men’s Under-20 800m

Troy Llanos – Fatima College – 2:01.27

Men’s Under-20 Long Jump

Moses Mc Conney – Tobago Falcons – 5.84m

Savion Joseph – UTT Patriots – 5.83m

Nabarine Alleyne – Tobago Falcons – 5.01m

Women’s Under-20

400m hurdles

Shanille Greene – Tobago Falcons – 1:11.41

Men’s Under-20 400m hurdles

Kai Martin – Tobago Falcons – 1:03.26

Women’s Under-20 Shot Put

Brianna Percy – Tobago Falcons – 10.62m

Allesha Lindsay – Tobago Falcons – 10.35m

Gianna Paul – Concorde – 8.58m

Women’s Under-23 Shot Put

Elizabeth Galera – Burnley AC – 11.57m

Men’s Under-20 Shot Put

Dennis Daniel – Tobago Select AC – 11.45m

Tyreik Mitchell – Fullfillingathletics – 10.30m