College circuit pushes Carifta champ De Gannes to new heights

NATIONAL long jump junior athlete Janae De Gannes relishes the opportunity to develop as an athlete on the US college circuit, as she knows competing solely in the Caribbean is like being a big fish in a small pond.

The 18 year old is expected to be one of TT’s leading athletes at the 2025 Carifta Athletics Games, which will be held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, from April 19-21.

A first-year student of Baylor University in Texas, De Gannes was born in Bon Accord, Tobago, before moving to Petit Valley, Trinidad.

Before starting her college career at Baylor, De Gannes consistently earned podium finishes for TT at regional and international meets, such as the Carifta Games and the Commonwealth Games.

The former Bishop Anstey High School student has been excelling at Baylor. On March 22, she won gold at the Clyde Hart Classic, held at the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium in Waco, Texas. The freshman jumped 6.51 metres on her second attempt, which was wind-assisted. It was enough to land first place by more than half a metre.

Despite her success, De Gannes says, she is being exposed to a higher level of competition and is being introduced to new techniques.

De Gannes, the defending Carifta long jump champion, said, “My experience has been up and down. Coming into college, I came in the best in the Caribbean, but when you come into the college system it is much different.”

She has to keep pushing the limit. “You always have to continue being hungry to go out there and keep doing better and train harder, because everybody is at your level or better, so it allows me to think that I need to do better, every step of the way.

“Someone told me that college (competition) is like the second Olympics, so you always have to go out there and do your best.”

De Gannes has made changes in her training. “My main focus was my run up because my coach changed my run up completely, so right now I am still trying to find the board. This weekend we talked about the issue and right now we are working on the issue of getting my run properly.”

Last weekend’s meet was a gauge for her new technique.

De Gannes can’t wait to compete at home again during Carifta. “I am so excited to come home and compete. There is no other feeling like competing at home; the environment, the support. I get to see my family, my friends...hopefully get the support that we need. I think Carifta will be a great one . We have a lot of talented junior athletes, so I am looking forward to see how my teammates do as well.”

She is hoping more fans turn up, as De Gannes expected more people to come out when TT hosted the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

“I expect the stadium to be full. Honestly, when it comes to track and field we don’t really get the support. Most times it’s like parents or one or two friends might come out and support. I expected so much more persons to come out for Commonwealth. I am still thankful for the support that we got, but I think we can do much better when it comes to supporting our athletes...the limited support sometimes, it hurts us.

“I am a person who does long jump and I expect the crowd to support me while I am jumping. When it comes to football you can see the stadium is packed, it has no spots left. I wish we could do the same for track and field.”

At the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games the covered section at Hasely Crawford was mostly full, but only a sprinkling of fans were in the uncovered section.

De Gannes wants TT to win 30 medals at the 2025 games. Last year, TT ended with 27 medals – four gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze. Jamaica won the 2024 Carifta Games with 83 medals and the Bahamas were second with 36 medals.