CARIFTA team arrives to hero’s welcome

Apr 06, 2013 Sports

By Edison Jefford
It was early Friday morning, 1:35 am to be exact, which may have deterred much more people from turning up at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) to welcome home a CARIFTA Games team that certainly made history in the Bahamas.
But those who did turned up, including Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) officials, Gavin Hope and Aubrey Hutson, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport’s Admin Officer, Gervy Harry, among stakeholders, athletes and coaches, were emphatically in appreciation.
As the team exited the terminal at CJIA, loud cheers

The locally-based athletes of the ultra successful 2013 CARIFTA Games team, from left Jason Yaw, Tirana Mitchell, Cassey George, Jevina Straker, Avon Samuels and Alita Moore pose with officials, Mark Scott (Coach) and Amanda Hermanstine (Manager) for a photo opportunity after arriving in Guyana early Friday morning.

erupted in the waiting area that prompted an emotional moment for double medallist (1500m gold, 800m silver in U-17), Cassey George, who visibly cried as she embraced her coach, Moses Pantlitz.
And why not, the feat of the Linden-based George and the entire CARIFTA team was never before accomplished: six medals from eight athletes is extremely commendable and represents a 75% success rate at the region’s most prestigious junior athletics meet.
Coach Mark Scott, who will now have the distinction of mentoring the first CARIFTA unit to the largest medals haul at a single Games, said that he believes the ‘acclimatisation process’ was one of most important factors in the team’s success.
“By getting there a few days before to get acclimatised to the weather and the track especially was a major factor for us. It was very cold,” Scott said, adding that he was able to motivate and positively influence the team throughout the competition.
“I went through some race tactics with them like how to set their blocks for the 200m and 400m and things like that. They were very timid on the first day, but I think after Avon made the finals in her 400m race, they woke up and believed in themselves,” he continued.
Scott believes that all stakeholders including Government should come forward with support for the athletes moving ahead. He said that from academic to personal assistance should be high on the agenda for stakeholders to ensure that the athletes transition from CARIFTA champions to be World champions.
Guyana finished sixth overall from 19 competing Caribbean countries, the highest placing of the nation at the event. The other medallists included Jason Yaw (bronze 400m U-17), Jevina Straker (gold 800m U-20, her third CARIFTA gold medal), US-based, Kadecia Baird (bronze 400m U-20) and Tirana Mitchell (bronze 200m U-17). The other athletes on the 2013 CARIFTA Games team were Avon Samuels, US-based Ashley Tasher and Alita Moore.
Meanwhile, four of the eight athletes made the qualification marks for the 2013 World Youth Championships, July 14-18, Ukraine. Those athletes include George (800m, 1500m), Samuels (400m), Yaw (200m, 400m) and Mitchell (100m, 200m). However, the 14-year-old George and Samuels are under the 16-year old age requirement for the Championships.