With the inclement weather seemingly over after forcing the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) to postpone its annual Carifta trials to tomorrow, the meet is expected to be a fiery one when it runs off from 10am at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary.
The Carifta trials will pit juniors against each other in the under-17 and under-20 categories for a chance to represent Guyana at the 2012 edition of the Carifta Games scheduled for Bermuda in April.
The meet will see the preeminent clash of Chavez Ageday and Stephan James in the boys’ under-20, 200 metres for the first time since the start of the season and while James has more victories over Ageday in the event, it is still a race that generates the most hype in the junior category because both athletes are quite talented.
They both went head-to-head once for the season but it was over the 100 metres distance in which Ageday was victorious in a time of 10.8s. This will only add fire to the 200 metres clash between the two come race day.
“Well I’m ready for the competition and I’m feeling good about making the times and bettering it too,” Ageday told Stabroek Sport in a telephone interview.
The females will also be in the spotlight in the sprints with Letitia Myles and Tiffany Carto, who both represented Guyana at the Commonwealth Youth Championships, matching strides for the second time this season.
Myles holds the count with a victory over Carto at the Police Invitational event two weeks ago at their fun day event but it will be interesting to see how Carto rebounds from the loss knowing how well she runs early on in the season.
“I’m feeling confident for Thursday (tomorrow) especially in the 100 metres. I think I could make the time but the 200 metres is a little tough but I think I could go close in the 200 metres like around 25.00s,” Myles told Stabroek Sport.
Meanwhile all eyes will be on Jevina Sampson who will have her first crack at making the Carifta team.
The soon-to-be 14-year-old has quickly placed her name on the map by running some fast times which has made her competitive in both the junior and even senior categories.
Two-time 1500 metres gold medalist at the Carifta games, Jevina Straker will also be looking to silence critics and place her name back on the selection table of the AAG for a possible fourth berth at the Carifta Games this year.
Straker who took gold at the Carifta Games in 2009 and 2010 went into a rough patch in her junior career as she began underperforming by running sub-par times over the past year, but has recently begun to show glimpses of her former self.
However, come race day, Straker will have to turn up the heat to really impress the AAG if she is looking for that fourth Carifta berth.
Moreover as the competition among these juniors is expected to heat up they will have to make the newly- stipulated times by the AAG to gain consideration to the Carifta team.
The various times per category stipulated by the AAG are as follows:-
Under-17 females:
100m-12.0s, 200m-24.20s, 400m-56.0s, 800m-2:20.00s, 1500m -4:55.00s, 3000m-10:52.00s, Long Jump-5.53m, High Jump-1.65m, Discuss-34.75m, Shot Put-11.25m, Javelin-34m
Under-17 males:
100m-10.6s, 200m-21.30s, 400m-48.0s, 1500m-4:09.00s, 3000m-9:15.21s, Long Jump- 6.80m, High Jump- 1.80m, Triple Jump-13.50m, Discuss-42.30m, Shot Put-14.30m, Javelin-50.50m.
Under-20 females:
100m-11.80s, 200m-24.00s, 400m-55.00s, 800m-2:17.00s, 1500m-4:48.00s, 3000m-10:52.00s, Long Jump-5.80m, High Jump-1.72m, Triple Jump-12.30m, Discuss-38.10m, Shot Put-12.50m, Javelin-40.30m.
Under-20 males:
100m-10.35s, 200m-21.00s, 400m-47.00s, 800m-1:51.00s, 1500m-4:04.30s, 5000m-16:26.43s, Long Jump-7.10m, High Jump-1.95m, Triple Jump- 14.70m, Discuss-50.60m, Shot Put-16.20m, Javelin-58.00m.
