Lalenni Grant breaks 13-year discus record at Junior Champs

LALENII Grant put her name in the history books as she broke the national junior record in the girls Under-20 discus event on the first day of the 2023 National Association of Athletics Administrations NGC/Republic Bank Junior Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on Saturday.

The event was the first event held after the venue’s reopening. The stadium has been closed to do renovations for the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games, which will be held in TT from August 4-11.

Grant, a TT junior athlete, broke the 13-year record of 47.74 metres held by Ashlee Smith since 2010. Grant of Mercury Athletic Club threw 48.29m on her second attempt to win the event easily.

Adrianna Quamina was second with a throw of 35.44m and Grant’s club-mate Aniah Phillips was third with a 26.66m mark.

Gianna Paul of Concorde, also a TT junior athlete, had an impressive showing on day one winning the girls Under-18 100m hurdles and the girls Under-18 long jump events.

In the girls' Under-18 100m final, Symphony Patrick of Concorde just got the better of her TT junior team-mate Alexxe Henry of Zenith to win gold in 11.75 seconds. Henry was right behind in 11.78 and Kaziah Peters of Simplex was third in 11.90.

Another athlete who won a sprint event was Jael Peters of BURN who copped the girls' Under-15 100m final in 12.48. The Zenith pair of Makayla Cupid (12.52) and Xaiah Tobias (12.56) finished second and third respectively.

In the middle distance events, Kayleigh Forde and Omare Thompson of One A Week Club both won gold medals.

Forde claimed the girls' Under-18 1,500m final in five minutes, 02.69 seconds (5:02.69) and Thompson snatched first place in the boys' Under-18 1,500m event in 4:13.05.

In the boys Under-20 400m finals, Stefan Camejo of Memphis Pioneers won in 47.58, followed by his club-mate Keone John in 47.97 and Kyrell Thomas of Cougars rounded off the top three in 48.47.

In the girls' Under-20 400m event, Sapphire John of Abilene Wildcats copped gold in 1:00.37, Kevisjah Figaro of Full Filling Athletic Potential was second in 1:03.26 and Kevah Scott of Zenith was third in 1:03.86.

In the girls' Under-15 javelin finals, Naomi Henry of RSS Phoenix threw the spear 21.67m to win the event ahead of Karissa Williams of BURN (20.05m) and Lioness Yeates (17.95m).

Day two of the championships will start at 10 am on Sunday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.