School is the primary reason cited by Guyanese World Junior 400m Silver medallist Kadecia Baird for missing the South American Under 23 championships which will be held in Brazil September 28 -30.
Speaking with Stabroek Sports earlier this week, Baird stated, “School is my number one priority and will forever be.”
Baird’s remarkable, record-breaking run of 51.04s at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona in July was more than enough to qualify her for the Under-23 Championships. In fact, since that time was an Olympic `A’ standard, it basically qualifies her to represent Guyana for every competition (junior or senior) for about the next 12 months.
But, as indicated last week by this newspaper, Baird will unfortunately not be able to compete in the South American Under-23 championships later this month. The 17-year-old quarter miler just entered her final year at Medger Evers College Preparatory High School and has quite a tough schedule that cannot be disrupted at this time. While she loves track and field, Baird said that education always comes first and she is trying to zone in on her academics to ensure that she gets into a good college next year.
“Kadecia is now entering her final year of high school and she is gearing up to achieve the best grades possible, that’s the main reason why she couldn’t represent Guyana in the under 23 competition,” said Baird’s coach Shaun Dietz.
Additionally, Dietz said that Baird’s competition season has already ended and she has entered a new training cycle to prepare for next season.
“Also, we took into consideration that she had a very long season starting from November of 2011 and concluding with World Jr. Championships, she got college visits..etc. She is in her second week of her Preparation Phase and very confident about her upcoming Indoor Season.”
Baird, who was born and raised in Guyana and trained at the Royal Youth Movement Track and Field club in the National Park, has attracted a lot of attention from colleges throughout the US. Since migrating to the US just over years four ago, Baird has reportedly already been heavily recruited by college coaches especially after clocking the fifth fastest US high school 400m time (51.04s) in history in Barcelona at the IAAF World Junior Championships.
The John Street, Campbellville native, is one of the top recruits for next year, already with an Olympic qualifying standard and a US national title to her credit, and Dietz divulged that much more come.
“She has acknowledged that with more dedication and hard work she can be a way better athlete. Despite being so fast she is relatively weak compared to many others who ran similar times as she did. So she is developing more strength in the weight room, working on technique, etc…,” Dietz added.
While Baird continues her preparation for bigger and better things next season, Guyana has shortlisted five athletes to compete at the South American Under 23 Championships. Those athletes are: South American Junior 400m bronze medallist Stephon James, Chavez Ageday, JevinaStraker, Natrena Hooper and Cindy Fraser.
