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SPORTS BEAT
with Dean "The Sportsman" Greenway Relay spots no longer guaranteed There was a time when spots on a BVI relay team particularly among females were guaranteed—not anymore. Coaches will now have to huddle and go to their stat sheets. Athletes’ performances at the 37th Carifta Games at the Silver Jubilee Stadium in Basseterre, St. Kitts and at the Carolina Spring Break Classic in Puerto Rico over the weekend, shows that they will now have to fight for a spot on either the 4 x 100 or 4 x 400 meter relay. On Saturday for example, a record four women ran under 57 seconds in the 400 meters—three of them gaining personal bests. Samantha John made the Carifta Games Under 20 Girls final in her debut with the fastest time so far this season of 55.96 seconds, improving her best from 58.07. At the Carolina Spring Break Classic in Puerto Rico, Dominique Maloney dropped her best from 57.65 to 55.98. Also at Carifta, Ashley Kelly—in only her third 400 meters ever—chimed in with a career best of 56.24 in the Under 17 Girls division. And, at the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas, Chantel Malone made her collegiate debut with a run of 56.56—and has a 55.70 to her credit. All will definitely run faster with more competition. Britney Wattley—a member of both 4x100 and 4x400 National, National Youth and National Jr. teams, lowered her best to 58.06. Select from any of the quarter milers and throw in Tahesia Harrigan—who’s goal is to demolish her own 400 meter national record of 55.60 when she debuts next month—and the records are gone—even without her. Even with the performances so far, the 4 x 100 meter standard of 46.69 seconds—by Wattley, Kelly, Malone and Shanice Hazel—who ran a career best 11.75 last week in Houston Texas, will be destroyed this season. The 4 x 400 relay quartet minus Hazel and adding in Bianca Dougan that ran 3:49.68 in 2006, will carry that mark under 45 and 3:40 respectively, with the new corps of quarter milers and Harrigan. Considering that up until the start of 2006 both mediocre records had been standing for more than 15 years without improvement, an assault over the last three years has brought them into a semblance of respectability. Who will make the cut and who will be on reserve? That will be determined as the season progress. The debt of women’s athletics is evidenced by the fact that five women qualified for the World Youth Championships last year—Wattley, Dougan, Kelly, Hazel and Malone—and three of them—Kelly, (400 meters) Hazel (100 meters) and Malone (Triple Jump)—have so far made qualifying standards for the July 8-13, World Jr. Championships in Poland. And possibly six could qualify. Harrigan not only qualified for last year’s World Championships but did with an “A” mark in both the 100 and 200 meters and has qualified for this summer’s Beijing Olympic Games in both events with “A” marks—our first athlete to accomplish the feat. What happened to our men? Oh please….don’t get me started!!! |
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