Trinidad and Tobago girls shine at Carifta Games

THE TT girls won the bulk of the medals for this country on day one of the 51st Carifta Games at Kirani James Stadium in St George’s, Grenada yesterday. TT earned seven medals on day one – four silver and three bronze.

Peyton Winter copped silver in the girls’ Under-17 shot put in the first session of the games with a 14.21-metre throw. Tenique Vincent added a bronze medal in the opening session in the girls’ Under-17 high jump event.

TT then copped two medals in the 1,500m events in the early stages of the evening session. Shian Lewis grabbed bronze in the girls Under-17 1,500m final. Heading into the final lap, Lewis and fellow TT athlete Aniqah Bailey were leading the pack with the Jamaican pair of Dallia Fairweather and Alikay Reynolds in hot pursuit.

With 150m left, the Jamaican pair took control of the race moving to the front. Fairweather and Reynolds never looked back, winning gold and silver respectively in four minutes, 45.86 seconds (4:45.86) and 4:46.14. Lewis grabbed bronze in 4:48.58 and Bailey, who faded in the final 100m, was fourth in 4:52.06.

Kayleigh Forde earned TT’s fourth medal of the games with a bronze in the girls’ 1,500m Under-20 final. Forde was in third position for most of the race, only trailing Jamaicans Rickeisha Simms and Kaydeen Johnson.

When the final lap began, it was clear that Forde would not make up the ground on Simms and Johnson. Forde finished in 4:41.71, Johnson took silver in 4:32.49 and Simms won gold in 4:31.94.

TT were also represented in the boys’ 1,500m events. Tafari Waldron finished fourth in the Under-20 race in 3:59.66 and Omare Thompson was eighth in 4:09.17. In the Under-17 event, Jaden Alexander was sixth in 4:20.13 and Isaiah Alder ended ninth in 4:22.70.

While the action continued on the track, TT were showing their quality in the field events. Keneisha Shelbourne bagged silver in the girls’ Under-20 triple jump in a personal best effort of 12.49m. Richelle Stanley of Jamaica took gold (12.58m) and Oceane Saint-Hilaire (12.20m) took bronze with a 12.20m leap.

Tenique’s twin brother Tyrique claimed silver in the boys’ Under-17 long jump.

Many other athletes competed for TT in the opening session including Gianna Paul. Paul, competing in the girls’ open heptathlon, took the early lead after two events. She won both the 100-metre hurdles and the high jump, achieving a personal best in the latter.

In the heptathlon, athletes compete in seven events including the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin, and 800m. Paul also had a strong showing in the shot put, finishing third with a 9.48m throw.

In the evening session, Paul was set to finish among the top three in the 200m event but pulled up with an apparent leg injury in the final 100m. Paul as a result dropped to third in the heptathlon overall standings with 2,643 points.

Fellow TT athlete Kaori Robley won the 200m event in 25.13 seconds as she also vies for a medal in the heptathlon. Robley was fourth in the hurdles, fifth in the high jump, and sixth in the shot put with a 6.51m effort. Robley is fifth overall with 2,500 points.

In the closing stages of day one, Kadeem Chinapoo sprinted to a silver medal in the boys Under-17 100m in 10.59. Cameron Nathaniel-Powell of TT was fifth in 10.87.

In the boys Under-20 discus final, TT’s Jaydon Nedd was ninth with a throw of 42.06m.

The Carifta Games continues today at 9 am.