Athletics: Track stars get ‘Last Chance’ at CARIFTA cuts

Cayman’s amateur track and field stars will make one final push for CARIFTA qualifying standards Saturday (6 April) at the Cayman Islands Athletics Association (CIAA) Last Chance CARIFTA Trials held at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.

At March’s CUC Trials, eight athletes hit eleven standards bringing Team Cayman’s list of qualifiers to 12 athletes for the 48th CARIFTA Games in Grand Cayman 20-22 April .

One athlete hoping to join that list is 15-year old Monique Gordon. The 2018 CARIFTA reserve clocked 27.43 seconds in the Girls Under-17 200-meters at March’s Trials which was two-plus seconds off the B-Standard of 25.14. After watching her teammates win bronze in the Under-17 Girls 4×100-metre relay last year, Gordon has her eye on the prize this weekend.

“You have to think the best,” said Gordon. “I can’t get doubtful because when that happens, the vision disappears. So you have to think the best. Last year, I didn’t get to run the relay so I have to use that as a way to drive me this year.”

Another CARIFTA hopeful is Mustang Track Club’s Errol Smith. The 15-year old won silver as part of the Boys Under-17 4×100-metre relay in his CARIFTA debut last year. After missing the Under-17 200-metre B-Standard of 22.38 by less than a second (23.47). Smith is confident in his ability to hit the mark this weekend.

“I came into the 200-metre wanting to run 22 seconds to qualify, but I think I did good,” said Smith.

In field events, Aijah Lewis is aiming to compete in her fifth CARIFTA Games in hopes of medaling for the first time. At March’s Trials, the 18-year old was slightly off the B-Standard of 5.54-metres in the Girls Under-20 Long Jump soaring 5.29-metres. In the Girls Under-20 High Jump, Lewis was just shy of the CARIFTA B-Cut of 1.65-metres, clearing a height of 1.56m. The Savannah native has set the bar high for Saturday’s meet.

“My goal this weekend is to qualify for the CARIFTA Games, and to get a personal best in each event that I will be competing in,” said Lewis.

Lewis will also compete in the Girls Under-20 100-meters. Last month, she was less than a second off the 100-meter CARIFTA A-Standard of 11.92 seconds with a time of 12.88s.

The Last Chance CARIFTA Trials begin at 3:00 p.m. View the event schedule below:

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