JA on top with 30 medals at CAC Juniors
TARA-SUE Barnett mined gold in the Girls Discus (1K) A final Saturday casting 49.62 metres at the XIX Central American and Caribbean Junior A&B (Under-20 & Under-18) Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador.
The 18-year-old national junior champion and record holder beat Barbadian Leah Bannister (47.48 metres), and Puerto Rican Ashley Arroyo (47.43 metres).
In the Girls Discus B final, Gleneve Grange obtained the bronze after chucking 46.51 metres. Cuban Rosalía Vásquez won in a new championship record of 50.24 metres, while Bahamian Brashe Wood placed third with 38.30 metres.
Shericka Jackson and Jodean Williams finished second and third in the Girls 200m A final posting 23.87 and 24.07 seconds, respectively. Dominican Republic’s Fanny Husks won in a time of 23.79 seconds.
Saqukine Cameron, meanwhile, clocked 24.10 seconds to win the Girls 200m B final, beating Bahamian Carmiesha Cox, 24.18 seconds, and fellow Jamaican Natalliah Whyte, 24.35 seconds.
In the Boys 200m B final, Jevaughn Minzie ran 21.02 seconds to finish second. Anguilla’s Zharmel Hughes won in 20.98 seconds while Antigua & Barbuda’s Cejhae Greene took third in 21.04 seconds.
Jamaica boys clinched both the A and B finals in the 4x100m relay in new championship records.
Odean Skeen, Tyquendo Tracey, Jay Givans, and Jazeel Murphy logged 39.39 seconds, smashing the previous record of 39.77 set by Trinidad & Tobago in 2010. Bahamas (39.80 seconds) and Trinidad & Tobago (39.99) finished second and third, respectively.
In the B final, Michael Ohara, Raheem Robinson, Gawaine Williams, and Jevaughn Minzie posted 40.17 seconds, erasing the former championship record of 40.83 set by their countrymen in July 2006. The Dominican Republic (41.57 seconds) and Bahamas (41.61 seconds) placed second and third respectively.
The Jamaican girls also delivered in the both A and B finals of the 4x100m relays.
The team of Monique Spencer, Christania Williams, Deandre Whitehorne and Shawnette Lewin clocked 44.51 seconds for gold in the A final. El Savador finished second in a time of 55.15 seconds.
In the B final, the Jamaicans registered 45.53 seconds thanks to the quartet of Natalliah Whyte, Saquikine Cameron, Shanice Bonner, and Claudette Allen. Bahamas finished second in 45.72 and Trinidad & Tobago third in 46.24.
After results on Saturday, Jamaica lead the table with 30 medals (14 gold, 10 silver, and six bronze), ahead of Mexico, 14 medals (eight gold, five silver, one bronze), and Puerto Rico, 14 medals (five gold, seven silver, two bronze).
