Trio race to Carifta standards at Schools South Central Regionals

OMARI Brown, Kadeem Chinapoo and Akira Malaver were among the standout performers when the Secondary Schools Track and Field (SSTF) regional championships ran off at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Wednesday, as they all achieved the Carifta qualifying standard in their respective disciplines.

Fresh from the Trinbago Schools’ relay festival which was held at the Mucurapo venue last week, schools from the Richards, Cedenio, Borel South/Central regions were the first to hit the track in the regional championships.

In the boys’ under-17 110-metre hurdles event, Brown, of Carapichaima West Secondary, stopped the clock in a time of 14.62 seconds. And though the Carapichaima student only had Isaiah Coutou to contend with in his race, he kept his concentration and form to ensure he dipped under the Carifta qualifying time of 14.78 seconds. Brown improved his time from the National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA) developmental meet on January 7, when he clocked 14.83 seconds.

At the developmental meet two weeks ago, Brown also achieved the Carifta standard in the under-17 long jump when he recorded a distance of 6.39m - bettering the Carifta mark of 6.34m.

In the first heat of the boys’ under-17 100-metre event, lanky St Benedict’s College athlete Kadeem Chinapoo torched the track to take the top spot in a time of 10.77 seconds — dipping well under the Carifta qualifying time of 11.03. Chinapoo was followed to the finish line by Gasparillo Secondary’s Justin Dowridge, who clocked 11.19 seconds. The race was the fastest of the six boys’ under-17 heats, with both Chinapoo and Dowridge sealing automatic qualifying spots for the national championships as they were well under the 11.45-second qualifying time.

Chinapoo, a gold medallist with TT’s under-18 4x100-metre team at last year’s NACAC Championships in Costa Rica, will be one of the favourites to clinch the national title.

The next-fastest overall time in the boys’ under-17 100-metre event was clocked by Presentation College San Fernando’s Tayshaun Hamlet who stopped the clock in 11.60 seconds to win heat two, with Naparima College’s Timothy Hamilton clocking 11.61 seconds to win heat four. Hamlet, Hamilton and the other final hopefuls will have an anxious time as they monitor the 100-metre times from the other zones ahead of the national championships on February 20-21.

Holy Faith Penal’s Malaver left no stone unturned in her quest to crack the Carifta standard and qualify for the national championships when she contested the girls’ under-17 400-metre event, as she was the sole athlete in a field of 27 to dip under one minute in the four heats. Running in the final heat, Malaver left the field in her wake as she clocked a time of 56.08 seconds — dipping under the Carifta standard of 57.54. She also booked her spot in the national championships as she bettered the 58-second qualifying mark.

Malaver was also among the medals at the NACAC Championships last year. She won gold with TT’s under-18 female quartet in the 4x100-metre relay final and grabbed silver in the girls’ under-18 400-metre final.

Other standout performers on the day included Benedict’s student McKale Mohammed, who won the boys’ 17+ long jump and 100-metre events and Point Fortin East Secondary’s Diamond Paul who won the girls’ 17+ 400-metre and long jump events.

Benedict’s, Chaguanas North Secondary, Cunupia Secondary, Holy Faith Penal and St Joseph’s Convent San Fernando were the top performing schools on day one of the two-day meet, boasting four regional title-winners respectively.

The South/Central regional championships will be followed by the Walcott, Lendore, Ahye North regional championships from January 30-February 1. The Quow, Stewart, Baptiste Tobago regional meet will be held from February 7-8.