RSS Phoenix siblings golden at Juvenile Champs

SIBLINGS Gloria and Kerlon Henry were among the stars for RSS Phoenix, winning five gold medals each, at the 2023 National Association of Athletics Administrations Juvenile Championships, held last weekend at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

Gloria claimed six medals (five gold, one silver), Kerlon took home seven medals (five gold, two silver) and club-mate Nashequa Samuel bagged seven medals (four gold, three silver). Some of the other athletes winning medals for the Tobago-based RSS Phoenix were Kenron Orr, Reshard Blackman, Kellon Potts, Shiniah Sandy, Kyoni Morris and Leeon Kerr. RSS Phoenix won the team title with 561 points, Burnley ended second with 283 points and Cougars were third with 282.5 points.

RSS Phoenix swept the juvenile and junior championships for the second year in a row.

Gloria won multiple gold medals in the girls' Under-11 category over the two-day meet. She showed her versatility as she won both field and track events.

Gloria won the girls' Under-11 800-metre category comfortably, in two minutes, 47.63 seconds (2:47.63), ten seconds ahead of second-placed Chennai Moore of Cheetahs, who stopped the clock in 2:57.95. Moore is an emerging long-distance runner, as she has been winning 5K open category races despite her age. Aquilah Greene of Cougars finished third in 3:15.99.

It did not stop there for Gloria, as she won the 300m race in 47.74 seconds. Analeez Mussio of Abilene Wildcats was second in 49.21 and Johanna Huggins of Fulfilling Athletic Dreams ended third in 51.14.

In the girls' Under-11 long jump, Gloria won gold again when she cleared the bar at 1.35 metres. Burnley athlete Destiny Arnold finished second (1.05m) and her club-mate Willow Spencer (0.95m) was third.

Gloria also claimed top spot in the ball throw, an event used to help identify youngsters who may have the ability to compete in throwing events such as the javelin and discus when they get older. Gloria threw the ball 36.08m to snatch first place, Mussio was second with a 30.45m effort and Sydel McLawrence was third with a 27.72m throw.

Gloria then teamed with Etana Stewart, Kenya Muir and Samuel to capture the girls' Under-13 1,000m sprint medley in 2:40.16. In the event, a 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m leg must be completed.

Two of the gold medals Kerlon won were in the boys' Under-13 long jump and the boys' Under-13 300m hurdles. Samuel showed her endurance as one of her gold medals was in the girls Under-13 1,000m event.

Jael Peters of Burnley showed her sprinting quality, winning the girls' Under-13 100m in 12.77 seconds. Kaley Wiltshire of Abilene Wildcats was almost one second behind in 13.67 and Rayneisha James of Mercury was third in 13.71.

Peters completed the sprint double when she took the girls' Under-13 200m final in 26.45. Wiltshire was second in 28.50 and Nyla Kerr of Cougars was third in 29.34.

Another athlete demonstrating her speed was Mussio in the girls' Under-11 division, snatching the 80m dash final in 11.32 and the 150m race in 21.53.

In the Under-13 boys' category, Kaden Brathwaite-Adams of Burnley took top spot in the 100m event in 12.67 and then captured first place in the 200m distance.