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HomeNewsLocal sportsResults of the V.I. National Track and Field Championships Are Given

Results of the V.I. National Track and Field Championships Are Given

 From left to right --- male sprinters start the 400m, which resulted in sub-50 minute performances; Evan Jones wins the 5,000m run clocked by Coaches Ileta Potter and Bruce Smith; Keith Smith addresses some of the younger members of the St. Croix Track Club; Brad Kappel, Ruth Ann David, Shane DeGannes, Evan Jones and Devon Leslie line up for the first event of the day, the 5,000m run.The annual Virgin Islands National Track and Field Championships were held on Saturday, June 25. For the first time the venue was the new IAAF certified track at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on St. Thomas.
V.I. champions were declared in various disciplines for athletes of all ages and clubs. The one-day meet saw individual performances that amassed points for the athletes’ clubs. At least three clubs from the British Virgin Islands (BVI) took advantage of the invitation to compete. There were a number of closely contested sprint events ranging from 11-and-under to masters-over-35 for boys and girls as well as men and women. The athletes ran in races ranging in distances from 100 meters to 5,000 meters; they competed in field events including the long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus, javelin and baseball throw for the youths.
Of the eight clubs competing, five of them representing the V.I., the St. Croix Track Club led the way for male and female clubs with totals of 168 points in 33 events for the males and 329 points in 36 events for the females. There were outstanding performances in each of the categories with medals awarded to the top three finishers in each age group.
The competition was very special to David Walters, a member of the 4 x 100m relay, who holds the V.I. national record. He ran the fastest 100m for the day with a wind-aided time of 10.44. He is a graduate of Charlotte Amalie High School and is coached by Dale Joseph, the V.I. National Track and Field Championships competition director. A graduate of Langston University in Oklahoma, Walters was an All American.
Shadquoy Stephens of the BVI was second in 10.72; Jordon Sartor-Francis, V.I. National Track and Field team member and 2016 graduate of the Navy Academy, was second for the V.I. and third overall in 11.24. Sartor-Francis won the V.I. title in the 200m in 22.09 with Brian Slator taking in a photo finish. Nia Jack for the St. Croix Track Club and the Pan Am Youth Championships 100m champion had the fastest female 100m time of the day and track record in 11.96. She is a qualifier for the IAAF World Under 20 Championships coming up next month in Poland. Kala Peen of the Fast Lane Jr. Track Club of BVI was a close second, also in 11.96.
Khadijah Clouden, a junior at Virginia State University, won the triple jump with a wind-aided leap of 11.91 and finished second to V.I. National Heptathlon record holder Wanetta Kirby in the long jump. Her triple jump earned her a trip to the upcoming NACAC Under 23 Championships in El Salvador. Quashira McIntosh, a sophomore at the University of Nebraska, had a strong first place finish in the under 20 200m with a time of 24.40w.
Avery Joseph, a sophomore at Central Michigan University, is the V.I. Junior National Record holder for the javelin and he took first place. Lamar Miller of the St. Croix Track Club ran the fastest under-18 100m of the day with a time of 11.15. Tyrone Lake of the Hounds and Foxes Track Club had an outstanding day as he took first in the 200m, first in the baseball throw and third in the 100m for the under-11 boys age group. His sister T’yannah took the title in the girls under-15 200m.
The first medals of the day were awarded to a small group of 5,000m runners in the longest race of the day with Evan Jones taking first place with a time of 17:48. Jones came back later to win the 1,500m with a time of 4:35; Shane Degannes won the masters title for the 5K and was second overall in 18:47. Brice Richards of Good Hope Country Day School won his first title in the under-11 800m with a time of 2:50; Christopher Griffith of the St. Thomas Track Club was second in 2:56. Kohun Eugene and Jamil Berthier of the Cheetah’s Track Club took first and second in the under-20 100m male event.
Malique Smith, Mikaela Smith, Michelle Smith and Keith Smith (brother, sisters and father from the St. Croix Track Club) had outstanding performances to lead their club. Malique who just finished his award winning freshman year at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, won an exciting race in the under-20 400m with his teammate Rodney Griffin. Both are trying for the IAAF World Under 20 Championships qualifier. Malique’s time was 48.42. Griffin, also with SCTC, will join Malique at University of Arkansas Pine Bluff and was second in 49.10; Randy Antoine of Cheetah’s Track Club was third for the V.I. in 57.51. Mikaela took first in the under-18 800m and the 400m in 2:30.51 and 62.89, respectively.
Michelle Smith won the under-11 long jump and was first for the V.I. in the 100m. Keith Smith, who is the bronze medal winner for the V.I. in the 1991 Pan Am Games 4 x 100m relay, took second in the Masters 100m. Barrymore Berley of the V.I. Express Track Club won the Masters 100m over Keith Smith, Joseph Lloyd and Willie Lewis. Ruth Ann David was the long female 5K runner as she took the title; her daughter Shiah took first in the under 13 girls 400m and 800m.
Several V.I. National Track and Field team members travelled from outside the territory to compete including: Brian Slator, Jordon Sartor-Francis, David Walters, Malique Smith, Tarique Abdul Akbar, Ailile Brown, Wanetta Kirby and Quashira McIntosh. The competition ended with a series of relay events.
The V.I. National Track and Field Championships were sanctioned and organized by the V.I. Track and Field Federation (ISV); they were funded by a grant from the International Association of Athletics Federations, the Government of the Virgin Islands and the V.I. Olympic Committee.
For full results, logon to: http://virginislandspace.org/vitff.html or call 643-2557 or e-mail: isv@mf.iaaf.org.
Samuel James Jr. took professional photos throughout the whole event, and he can be reached via samueljames2@yahoo.com

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