Crawford shines at NAAA development meet

CHRISTOPHER CRAWFORD of Falcons Athletic Club, was the marque Tobago performer, at the National Association of Athletic Administration (NAAA) first development meet, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, last weekend.

Crawford, who previously represented Trinidad and Tobago at Carifta level, easily won the shot put and discus events.

On Saturday, Crawford best throw in the discus landed at 51.74 metres, while he recorded a distance of 15.35 metres in the shot put.

He said, “I was pleased with my overall performance. I actually made a personal best in the javelin.”

Crawford added, “I am hoping to achieve 56 metres in the discus and 17 metres in the shotput, by the end of the season. I am also hoping to attain the shotput standard, for the Caribbean Under-23 games, scheduled for June in Guadeloupe.”

Naberine Alleyne, Moses Mc Conney, Kimani Duke and Tshian Duke were the other representatives in the grey and maroon colours of Falcons, on Saturday.

Alleyne placed second in the boys Under-17 long jump with a leap of 5.39 metres. Tyrique Vincent of Concorde touched down at 5.58m for the victory.

Mc Conney's best effort in the Under-20 boys long jump was 5.94 metres, which saw him finish in second position. His effort was eclipsed by Aaron Antoine of Neon Wolves, by a full metre. Antoine’s best jump measured 6.94m.

Duke had to settle for fourth, in the girls Under-17 shot put with a throw of 9.02 metres. Burnley’s field athlete, Peyton Winter, who was the top performer in the age group, achieved the Carifta standard of 12.19 metres, when she landed the iron ball at 12.46 metres.

Duke improved her placings in the discus event, with a throw of 23.15m to cement second position.

Noray had no competition in the girls Under-20 discus, but her best throw was measured at 28.91 metres.

Natalia Eastman's performance in the girls Under-17 800 metres was the highlight among the Tobago track athletes on Sunday. Eastman of RSS Phoenix was first across the finish line, in an impressive time of two minutes 26.95 seconds.

Her time was two and a half seconds off the required Carifta standard of two minutes 24.48 seconds.

Eastman, however, had to settle for second position in the 1,500 metres, as her time of five minutes 52.57 seconds was no match for the five minutes 8.48 seconds produced by the winner, Kaleigh Forde of Cougars Athletic Club.

Forde also booked her Carifta flight to Jamaica in April, after achieving the required standard of five minutes 16.40 seconds.

Carlleyne Messiah, also of RSS Phoenix, topped the field in the men 800 metres, after stopping the clock at two minutes 3.82 seconds. But he had to settle for eighth position in the 400 metres with a time of 52.93 seconds.

Among the Falcons athletes, Mc Conney posted a time of 23.77 seconds in the Under-20 200 metres to finish seventh. Revell Webster of Concorde, won in 21.95 seconds.

Alleyne reached the finish line in 24.26 seconds in the boys Under-17 200 metres, to occupy seventh position. Dylon Woodruffe of Cougars, took pole position in 22.26 seconds.

Woodruffe, performance also bettered the Carifta standard of 22.44 seconds.

With a total of eight athletes combined, Falcons and RSS Phoenix were the only two, of the nine registered Tobago athletic clubs, to compete at the first NAAA meet, following the new government policy on sports, which caters for vaccinated athletes, officials, coaches and spectators only.

Commenting on whether the policy would have negatively impacted the participation of the Tobago clubs. Jayann Campbell, secretary of the Tobago Athletic Committee said, “It was the first meet, so it is difficult to say at this time, but there is a NAAA development meet scheduled for Tobago, later in February, so we will be in a better position to make an inform assessment.”

Campbell added “we consulted with the clubs and held a meeting last Saturday, to gather information on the vaccination status of clubs, and based on the responses, at least two clubs had a vaccination rate of over 50 per cent, while some indicated it was as low as ten per cent.”

General Secretary of the NAAA, Dexter Voisin said his association was satisfied with the process, He stated, “We were pleased with the turnout of athletes and officials for the games. There were no disappointments, it was very encouraging.”

The second development meet is set for the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, on February 13-14.