– Guyana places fourth
FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique, CMC- Jamaica walked away with a record 88 medals as the curtains came down on the 43rd Carifta Games here at the Stade Municipal Pierre Aliker on Monday night.
Jamaica’s medal haul included 32 on the final day to end with 42 gold, 34 silver and 12 bronze.
Trinidad & Tobago finished second with 6 gold, 7 silver and 12 bronze while Barbados ended third with 5 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze.
Completing the top 10 were Guyana 3 gold and 1 silver; Guadeloupe 3 gold and 8 bronze; Dominica 2 gold; Bahamas 1 gold, 8 silver and 11 bronze; Grenada 1 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze; Bermuda 1 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze and St. Lucia 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
Ryan Butler, Monique McPherson and Kevon Robinson stared in the 800m finals for Jamaica.
Butler, made his move in the final 200m, finishing strong in 1:55.61 ahead of his teammate Ryan Dunkley 1:56.03 and Justin Pinder of Bahamas 1:56.37. McPherson led from the front to take the Under-20 girls 800m in 2:09.85, ahead of her teammate Sasha-Gaye Whyte 2:13.19 and Cheryl Farial of Guadeloupe 2:13.29.
Robinson, who also waited until the last 200m to make his move, crossed the line in 1:51.02, just ahead of his teammate Rajay Hamilton 1:51.05 and Claudius Russell of Bahamas 1:51.86.
In the Under-18 girls event, Faheemah Scraders of Bermuda 800m, spoiled the Jamaicans party with 2:10.68. Jamaica’s pair of Junelle Broomfield 2:10.79 and Britnie Dixon 2:13.33 were next to the line.
Jamaica also dominated the 200m finals with six medals, which included three gold. Michael O’Hara, the World Youth champion, stepped up to win the Under-20 boys final in 20.50 ahead of teammate Jevaughn Minzie 20.56 with Levi Cadogan of Barbados finishing third in 20.64
Natalliah Whyte, who won the Under-17 sprint double last year, topped the Under-18 girls 200m in 23.36 with her teammate Shellece Clark taking bronze in 23.61. Sada Williams of Barbados secured second place in 23.43. Chad Walker 20.99 finished ahead of his Jamaican teammate Jhevaughn Matherson 21.13 and Bahamian Javan Martin 21.15 in the Under-18 boys 200m final.
Kayelle Clarke of Trinidad & Tobago took the U20 200m girls final in 23.10 ahead of Kadecia Baird, the 400m champion from Guyana, in 23.13 and Jamaica’s Kadisha Dallas 23.69. In the sprint hurdles, Jamaica with Janeek Brown 13.48 and Sidney Marshall 13.62 finished first and second respectively ahead of Jeminise Sade Parris (Turks) 13.79.
Jaheel Hyde, the World Youth champion, topped the boys Under-18 110m field in 13.10secs, ahead of his Jamaican teammate Roje Chin Jackson 13.46 and Michael Nicholls of Barbados 13.69.
Hyde said, “the plan was to come out here and go below my PR 13.13, so therefore I am happy.” The mark, however, was wind-assisted 2.2m/s.
“I found I am crashing into the hurdles a bit quicker than normal so what I do is kind of slow down a bit,” added Hyde. “The Carifta Games is a success for me, because the aim of coming here was to take home two individual gold medals.”
Akeela Jones of Barbados ended a seven-year career at Carifta with her first ever 100m hurdles victory, 13.55secs to beat Peta-Gaye Williams of Jamaica 13.57 and Chrystie Lange of Guadeloupe 13.59
Jones described the victory as “fantastic” while adding “I have never won this event, so this time it feels really good to win the gold medal.”
She continued, “it’s something people don’t think I can do, but I can be the best at (the 100m hurdles).”
“Three gold medals, no record, but I am leaving with a bang,” said Jones, who won the high jump and long jump.
Wilhem Belocian of Guadeloupe 13.23 beat Jamaica’s Tyler Mason 13.25 and Ruebin Walters of Trinidad and Tobago 13.57 in the boys’ Under-20 110mH final.
Jamaica also finished 1-2 in the 5,000m final with Obrien Frith 15:48.51 and Romario Foote 15:51.66.
Trinidad & Tobago closed out the Championships with Maceh Cedenio taking them to victory in the boys’ Under-20 4x100m in 3:06.02 ahead of Jamaica (3:07.71).
