Photos by Orlando Charles
Stephan James and Chavez Ageday sent the Police Sports Club ground into an uproar when they matched strides in the under-20 200 metres yesterday at the Athletics Association of Guyana junior Carifta Trials meet.
James ran a fast turn to close Ageday’s stagger. Ageday made his move to lead the race up to 170 metres and then James kicked into another gear to take the lead and win the much anticipated race in a personal best of 21.3s which was the qualifying standard set by the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG). Ageday clocked in at 21.5s to finish second in the event.
Earlier in the day, James also copped the 400 metres comfortably in a time of 49.5s to finish ahead of Elton Bollers who turned in a time of 52.3s.
“Well my performance today was a rough one because I had to run heats and finals for both events which was kind of hectic for me especially after finishing the 400 and going back to the 200 was tough but I was pleased with the 200 metres because it was my PB (personal best).
“I was a bit disappointed in the 400 metres though because I didn’t get to run the time I wanted to,” James told Stabroek Sport about his performances.
Ageday ran a blistering 100 metres conquering the field in a time of 10.3s to run the qualifying time for that event. Davin Fraser was second with a time of 10.4s.
Meanwhile the upset of the day came when Samuel Caitan of Rupununi consigned junior long distance champion in the 5000 metres Nathaniel Giddings to slow second place. Caitan defeated Giddings by a stunning 120 metres, running a time of 16:40.5s for the top position. Giddings clocked in a slow time of 17:21.1s.
Secretary of the Rupununi Athletics and Sport Association (RASA) Brian Rodrigues explained that Caitan was primed for the race.
“Well he didn’t get to this same event at schools nationals, so we brought him specifically for this race and he was really hyped so it’s good to see him perform the way he did,” Rodrigues stated.
Middle distance runner Devaughn Barrington stepped up to the challenge to claim a distance double as he ran from behind to defeat Giddings in the 1500 metres under-20 in a close finish to win in 4:18.6s while Giddings clocked in at 4:18.8s. Barrington then claimed the 800 metres later in the day in an easier fashion than he did the 1500 metres in a time of 2:02.4s.
The females under-20 100 metres was a class act by Letitia Myles as the Guyana Defence Force Athlete bolted out of the blocks, maintaining her lead to finish ahead of the field in a time of 12.0s while her friend and rival Tiffany Carto turned in a time of 12.3s.
However, in the under-20 girls 200 metres, it was a slightly tougher race for Myles as she barely hung on to claim the event on the line in a time of 24.9s as Carto’s final surge was only good enough for 25.00s.
Two time 1500 metres gold medalist at Carifta Games Jevina Straker claimed a distance double but failed to get close to the qualifying times as she clocked 2:28.6s and 5:08.2s to win the girls under-20 800 and 1500 metres races respectively.
Lawanda Whaul had a good day in the field as she threw away the discus in the girls under-20 category with a personal best distance of 31.55 metres while Alita Moore was equally as impressive in the female long jump with a distance of 5.17 metres for the top position.
In the under-17 action, Tevin Garraway was the most outstanding male athlete for that category as he blasted his way to a 100 metres qualifying time of 10.8s to win the 100 metres while taking down his field in the 200 metres in a time of 22.3s.
Meanwhile in absence of female youth star Jevina Sampson due to a quadriceps injury her club mate Shomaine Daniels picked up the slack and looked impressive by running away with a sprint double in the female under-17 200 and 400 metres events in times of 25.2s and 1:00.4s respectively.
Daughter of female sprint queen Alisha Fortune, Andrea Foster produced stellar performances in the under-17 1500 and 3000 metres as she ran times of 5:03.2 and 11:19.4s respectively to claim both events.
Silver medalist at the Inter Guiana Games Ornesto Thomas was also outstanding by claiming a distance double in the 1500 and 3000 metres with times of 4:32.6s and 10:36.7s respectively.
Meanwhile the AAG will have a lot of deliberating to do when picking the team since there were a lot of outstanding performances that matched the times that they stipulated.
