National record for Barnes as Cayman’s medal count rises

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 1 April 2018

Lacee Barnes stands atop the podium after the U20 Girls discus.

Lacee Barnes threw a new national record in the U20 Girls discus to deliver the Cayman Islands’ first gold medal of the 2018 Flow CARIFTA Games on Sunday 1 April. Meantime, podium finishes in the U17 boys and girls 4x100m relays pushed the territory’s medal total to four after two days at regional track and field showcase in the Bahamas.

U20 Girls Discus (gold)

Lacee Barnes set a new Cayman Islands national record with 49.81m in the U20 Girls discus. She was more than four metres ahead of Marie Jones of Jamaica (45.72m), who finished second. Barnes’ throw broke a national mark she set less than a month ago while competing for the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she is a freshman. This is Barnes second medal of the Games, after winning silver in the shot put a day earlier.

U17 Boys 4x100m relay (silver)

The U17 Boys team of Silver Hurlston, Neil Brown, Errol Smith, and Derrick Francis won silver behind Jamaica in the 4x100m relay. They got the baton around the track in 44.29 seconds, edging Turks and Caicos Islands (44.34) for the second spot on the podium. Jamaica won comfortably in 41.04 and the Bahamas was last in the four-team field with 45.79.

U17 Girls 4x100m relay (bronze)

The Cayman Islands team of Tori-Ann Gonez, Ashantae Graham, Jaden Francis, and Danneika Lyn won bronze in the U17 Girls 4x100m relay. They finished the one-lap race in 47.74 seconds behind Jamaica (44.95) and Bahamas (46.24), and ahead of St Kitts and Nevis (49.88), and Turks and Caicos Islands (51.11).

This is the first CARIFTA medal for any of these girls. All except Ashantae Graham made their Games debut this year.

L-R: Jaden Francis, Ashantae Graham, Tori-Ann Gonez, Danneika Lyn. (Courtesy Falcon Athletics)

Boys 3,000m (Open)

Levi Superville just missed out on a medal in the Boys 3,000m open. The 15-year-old from 345 Athletic Club was fourth in 9:22.30, behind Jamaica’s Gianni Henry in third with 9:21.97. Bahamas’ Mitchell Curtis won gold in 9:04.65 and Giovouni Henry of Jamaica took the silver in 9:04.98.

Levi Superville (file photo)

Girls 3,000m (Open)

Ava Hider of 345 Athletic Club finished sixth in the Girls 3,000m open race in 10:47.69. Jamaica’s Monifa Green won the gold in 10:18.25.

U17 Girls 200m

Jaden Francis of Falcon Athletics ran a second personal best of the Games in as many events. The 15-year-old was fifth in the second of four heats with a time of 25.21 sec. Her time was 14^th fastest overall of 21 finishers. This followed a personal best run of 57.02 in the 400m a day earlier.

Meantime, Tori Ann Gonez was disqualified after a lane infringement in the first heat.

Jaden Francis (file photo) ran two PBs and won a medal on her CARIFTA debut.

U20 Boys 4x100m relay

The team of Rasheem Brown, Brandon Williams, Maliek Copeland, and Najae Gordon finished fifth in the U20 Boys 4x100m relay in 42.55 sec. Jamaica won gold (39.56), Trinidad and Tobago silver (40.29) and Barbados (40.43) edged Bahamas (40.46) for the bronze.

U17 Girls Long Jump

Ashantae Graham of Falcon Athletics was ninth of 11 participants in the U17 Girls Long Jump with a best distance of 5.13 metres. Jamaica’s Ackelia Smith won with a leap of 5.91metres.

U20 Boys Long Jump

Lemar Reid finished 11^th of 17 competitors in the U20 Boys Long Jump. His furthest jump was 6.70m. Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock won with a distance of 7.46m. Reid’s performance was short of the 7.23m he jumped on 21 March to win the Class Two Boys event for Calabar High School at the 2018 Inter-secondary School Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Athletics Championships in Jamaica.

U20 Boys 200m

The Cayman Islands had two competitors in the U20 Boys 200m in Karim Murray and Najae Gordon. Murray was sixth in heat three of the preliminaries with 22.54 sec, and Gordon fifth in heat four in 22.47. Gordon’s time was 18^th and Murray’s 20^th of 24 participants across four heats. Neither advanced from the preliminary round.

U20 Boys 800m

During the morning session, Michael Smikle and Victor Magalhaes competed in the preliminaries of the U20 Boys 800m. Smikle (Mustang Track Club) was 10^th overall fastest of the 16 runners with 1:58.52, missing out on the finals by two spots. Magalhaes (345 Athletic Club) was 14^th overall in 1:59.32.

The Games continue Monday. Among the Cayman Islands medal hopefuls scheduled to compete are Rasheem Brown (U20 Boys 110m Hurdles) and Daneliz Thomas (U20 Girls Javelin). CaymanSportsBuzz.com will have further updates from our athletes in the Bahamas.