12 athletes and counting for CARIFTA 2020

Feb 26, 2020 Sports

Guyana will be sending at least a dozen athletes to the 49th Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) games which will be hosted in Bermuda this Easter weekend (April 10th – 13th) at the Bermuda National Sports Center following the completion of the second local trials on Saturday at the National track & Field Center (NTFC) on the West Coast of Demerara.

Annalisa Barclay.

Trevon Hamer of Mercury Fast Laners.

Anisha Gibbons.

A total of five athletes made the CARIFTA Standard (CS) on Saturday last when the athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) held their second CARIFTA Trials.
The five athletes who have joined the initial seven that made the cut during the first trials in January include 2019 Javelin bronze medalist Anisha Gibbons, Lionel Marks, Attoya Harvey, Seon Booker and Okenoko Pascal.
Pascal qualified for the boys’ under-17 shot put, while Booker and Harvey will represent Guyana in the 1500m male and female races, respectively. Marks made the CS in the boys’ under-20 100m.

Keliza Smith and Randy Hamilton of Running Braves.

Princess Browne.

The other seven athletes who qualified during the first trials are Wesley Tyndall, Randy Hamilton, Adriel Austin, Keliza Smith, Annalisa Barclay, Princess Browne and Trevon Hamer.
Head coach of the team Guyana, Julian Edmonds, in an invited comment with Kaieteur Sport, noted that he expects to see a few more athletes making the CS at the third and final trials next month.
South American Youth Games Gold medalist, Breanna Charles, came very close on Saturday, missing the qualifying time in the girls under-20 200m by one-thousandth of a second.
Edmonds remained optimistic that Charles will be able to make the time and he has touted a team of no less than 15 athletes from the ‘land of many waters’ participating at the 49th CARFITA Games.
Last year, in the Bahamas, a total of 17 athletes took part in the 48th edition of the competition, copping three gold medals.
The Carifta Games are an annual Junior Track & Field competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association. The Games started in 1972 serving as the premier junior regional championship for the Caribbean/Caricom region. (Calvin Chapman)