Burnley Athletics dominate 4th leg of Keshorn Walcott Golden League

THE youngsters from the Burnley Athletic Club largely dominated their peers when the fourth leg of the Keshorn Walcott Golden League Athletics series was contested at the Toco Secondary compound on February 15.

With 2024 Carifta silver medallist Peyton Winter showing her class for Burnley in the field events, her teammates shone in varying categories and also sped to top honours in two of the three relay events contested.

Winter, who earned a podium finish in the girls' under-17 shot put event at Carifta 2024, claimed top spot in Toco in both the javelin and shot put events in the under-20 category.

In the javelin event, Winter had a fight on her hands as she clinched poll position with her third throw in the competition – a distance of 29.79 metres. The Burnley athlete just got the better of D'Abadie Progressive Athletic Club's Adrianna Quamina, who opened up the competition with a throw of 29.70m and followed it up with a 29m effort in her second throw.

Third spot went to Ascend Athletics' Abiah Halls, who hurled her best throw on her very first attempt – 29.25m.

In the girls' under-20 shot put, Quamina held the lead after round one with a 11.47m throw. However, Winter charged back to back the winning position with a 12.25m distance on her third throw. Quamina again settled for second as she registered a 11.53m distance with her final throw. Toco Tafac's Terliya Lara (9.55m) placed third.

Winter wasn't the only Burnley field athlete who flexed their muscles, as Karissa Williams topped the girls' under-17 category in the javelin and shot put events.

In the under-17 javelin, Williams threw a distance of 23.84m on her second attempt to grab the victory ahead of Toco Tafac's Isabella Solomon who achieved a 21.77m distance with her third throw. D'Abadie's Akeya Gonzales was third with her 19.49m attempt.

In the under-17 shot put, Williams was a measure of consistency as she was the only athlete to go beyond ten metres. Her winning throw was 10.83m.

Gonzales improved on her showing in the javelin as she was the runner-up with a 9.54m throw in her final attempt. In the process, Gonzales pushed Ascend Athletics' Jania Thomas (9.51m) to third.

Also in winners' row for Burnley were Kaden Adams, Destiny Arnold, Zinzi Gay, Jael Peters, Kyle Williams, Zamael Woodroffe and Jelany Chinyelu who copped the boys' under-20 shot put with a 13.37m throw to edge out Ascend Athletics' Daryan Boyce (12.28m).

Adams won both the boys' under-15 60m and 300m races, while Peters won the girls' under-15 60m and featured in Burnley's 4x200m relay win in the mixed under-17 category.

Adams won the under-15 60m in 7.91 seconds, edging Southern Track's Matthias Jacob (7.99) into second. Adams had more daylight in his win in the under-15 300m, though, as his 40.70-clocking was too much for Burnley teammate Arimani Jones Benjamin (44.09) to contend with.

With Peters in the lineup, Burnley's time of one minute, 50.32 seconds (1:50.32) beat Toco Tafac (2:01.57) for poll position in the mixed under-17 4x200m relay. Burnley's under-15 team also shone in the mixed under-15 4x200m relay as their time of 2:05.09 took them to the line ahead of Neon Wolves (2:06.07).

Neon Wolves did get joy in the form of Daniel Alfred, who won the boys' under-13 60m and 150m events. In the boys' under-13 60m, Alfred (8.81) got the better of the Burnley pair of Khari John (8.99) and Isiaiah Alexis (9.13). In the 150m race, Alfred ran a time of 21.87 as he again defeated John (22.51).

In the distance races, Toco Titans' Dareon Thom was in a field of his own as he won both the 3K and boys' under-20 1,500m events. Thom won the 3K in 10:14.17 to finish ahead of Point Fortin New Jets' Osdeen Peters, while his time of 5:07.55 saw him winning the 1,500m race ahead of Toco Tafac's Jahbarri Richards (5:21.45).

The fifth leg of the Golden League series is scheduled for February 22 at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex.