Secondary Schools' Track & Field 

Octathlon
Kerlon Ashby of Scarborough Secondary School and Aaron Ceasar bagan the day in the octathlon boys open. But only Kerlon Ashby completed all four events. The 100m, long jump, shot put and 400m. Ashby has racked up 2821 points while Ceasar only completed two events, the 100m and the long jump. Tomorrow they face the starter first thing in the morning with the 110m hurdles, then the high jump, followed by the javelin throw and 1500m in session 2.

Javelin (Boys under 20)
Vandel Joseph threw the spear 55.87m to finish 5th. While Odell Joefield finished 8th with a threw of 52.75m.  

Shot Put (Girls under 18)
Trinidad and Tobago got its first gold medal of the day and games when Ianna Roach of Bishops Anstey High School, Port of Spain threw the iron ball all of 14.43m, this was of her 5th throw but she had 4 throws over 14m and all 4 higher than the second place athlete from Jamaica who threw 14.12m

Discus throw (Boys under 20)
Konnel Jacob of Speyside High School, the strong young man threw the disc 57.28m on his fifth throw to finish 3rd behind a pair of Jamaicans who threw 66.41 and 60.38m to finish 1st and 2nd .

Long Jump (Boys under 18)
Jaydon Antoine of Academic College for Excellence added to the Trinidad and Tobago Medal count with bronze in the long jump. He had a 6.97m just six centimetres behind the Antiguan athlete and the Bahamian who took first place with a jump of 7.31m.

400m
Girls under 18
After the semi-finals in session 1. Rae-Ann Serville of St Joseph Covenant, Port of Spain qualified in 5th place and Joanna Rogers of St Francois Girls High School was the 7th fastest qualifier. In the evening final Joanna Rogers was 5th   in a time 56.22 seconds and Rae-ann Serville was sixth in 56.25secs  , with Bahamas taking 1st  and 3rd (53.69 & 54.33) and Jamaica 2nd  (54.24secs).

Boys under 18
Tyshawn Grey of Speyside High School and Akil Boison did not survive the elimination round in session 1. They ran 50.19 & 50.66 secs respectively to finish 15th and 17th.

Boys under 20
Two Trinidad and Tobago athletes faced the semi-finals. Joshua St Clair of Queens Royal College and Kashief King of Point Fortin East Secondary School. They both qualified for the finals. St Clair 3rd in 48.27 and King in 48.24. In the finals, Joshua St Clair claimed the 3rd spot as he ran home in a time of 47.02 behind Jamaica 45.97 and Cayman Island 46.46. King finished a strong fifth in 47.82.   

100m
Under 18 Girls
Akilah Lewis of Bishops Anstey High School, Port of Spain and Ayla Stanisclaus of Scarborough Secondary School lined up in the semi-finals and both made it into the finals. Lewis qualifying in 4th in 11.97 and Stanisclaus 7th in 12.00. As the sky turned red, an indication of things to come, Lewis finished 4th in 11.85 behind Jamaica in 11.80, Antigua in 11.67 and Jamaica in 11.62secs. Stanisclaus finished 5th in 12.24.

Under 18 boys
Adell Colthrust of Debe Secondary School and Avindale Smith of Queens Royal College safely made it through the semi-finals with 10.76, 4th and 10.86, 7th. In the finals, Smith ran 10.77secs to finish 5th, while Colthrust beat the field to grab T &T’s second gold medal in a time of 10.63secs.

Under 20 girls
As expected Khalifa St Fort a favourite for the gold medal made it through to the final in a time of 11.74secs. She qualified in second with the Jamaican qualifying in 11.63secs. Shikyla Walcott finished 11th overall in the semis and missed out on the finals. Khalifa went on to win Trinidad and Tobago’s third gold medal in a close finish. Scorching the track in 11.56secs, the Jamaican 11.57 second and Grenadian 11.67 third.

Under 20 boys
The evening ended with the boys under 20 100m finals. Earlier in the day though, Jalen Purcell NESC, Couva of and Jerrod Elcock of Queens Royal College qualified for the finals in 10.64 and 10.74secs respectively. Purcell qualified 3rd fastest and Elcock 6th fastest. The finals was filled with drama as two athletes were ejected due to false starts. This clearly put the entire field of athletes on edge. Guyanese Compton Ceasar seized the opportunity and took 1st place in 10.46 with Barbados and Jamaica taking 2nd and 3rd in 10.46 and 10.61 respectively. Purcell had to settle for 4th in 10.64 and Elcock for 6th in 10.74.

Trinidad and Tobago Medal Count
Gold – 3
Silver – 0
Bronze – 3

The major disappointment of the day was the lack of a national flag at the finish line for our athletes to wrap themselves in national pride. I hope this will be fixed as the games goes on tomorrow. In the morning session the 200m preliminaries long jump, javelin and multi events continue.

Joseph Brewster
Reporting from Curacao
Trinidad and Tobago Secondary Schools Track and Field Association. 

Carifta 2017 Day 1

​​​by Joseph Brewster (TTSSTFA); 16.4.17

CURACAO - With the shadow of a poor showing in Carifta 2016 weighing heavily on the minds of the Trinidad and Tobago contingent, the Carifta Games 2017 Curacao kicked of today. Many Trinidad and Tobago athletes faced the starter today in a range of track and field events. Here is a round up the day’s events.

Heptathlon Girls
Tyra Gittens – Ensworth High School, USA (representing T&T) leads the standing 3478 points. She finished first in the 100 metres hurdles, high jump, shot putt and 200m. Her compatriot Anya Akili of Bishops High School, Tobago has also maintained a third place standing 2851 points, finishing third in three events and 7th in the shot putt throw. Their competition continues tomorrow with the long jump and javelin throw.

For full results, click here