Chris Brown of the Bahamas in the men's 400m (© Getty Images)
In the race of the weekend, Chris Brown, fourth place finisher in the 400m in the 2005 and 2007 World Championships, defeated recently crowned NCAA 400m champion Andretti Bain in a hotly contested 400m in the Scotiabank Olympic Trials in Nassau, the Bahamas.
Brown’s time was 45.43 sec while Bain had to settle for 45.53.
Michael Mathieu, a member of last year’s World Championships silver medal 4x400m relay team placed third in 45.72, with Andre Williams finished fourth in 45.91.
Ramon Miller finished in fifth place in 46.29 and former World champion Avard Moncur ran 46.96 for sixth.
Osaka silver medallist Derrick Atkins won the 100m in a windy 9.97 sec (2.2m/s).
2002 World Junior silver medallist Shamar Sands set a Bahamian record of 13.44 sec in the 110m Hurdles.
Leevan Sands, 2003 World Championships Triple Jump Bronze medallist jumped a windy 17.45m (2.6mps) to take the event by nearly more than one metre.
Thomas is beaten in poor light conditions
World champion Donald Thomas did not do as well in the men's High Jump. He placed fourth with a 2.13m clearance in the competition which went into the evening and took place in what can only be described as poor light conditions in the stadium.
Raymond Higgs, who is headed to the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland (8-13 July), won the event in a personal best of 2.21m. Higgs’ former best was 2.16m. Higgs turned 17 in January of this year.
On the women’s side Chandra Sturrup at age 37 won the 100m in 11.14 sec, after running 11.13 sec in the semi-final. Debbie Ferguson placed second in 11.22 sec.
This will be Sturrup’s fourth Olympic Team. In 1996 she finished fourth in the 100m in 11.01 sec.
Ferguson-Mckenzie pushed hard
2004 Olympic bronze medallist Debbie Ferguson-Mckenzie won the 200m in a seasonal best of 22.82 sec with Young Sheniqua Ferguson right on her heels in 22.85. Sheniqua was a finalist in the 2006 World Junior championships in Beijing, and she is headed to this summer’s event in Bydgoszcz as well as the Olympic Games in Beijing, since her time is an Olympic “A” Qualifying time.
Young Nivea Smith, who won the 200m at this year and last year’s Carifta Games, placed third in 23.46. Auburn’s Cache Armbrister did not finish the event due to an injury the gravity of which is presently unknown.
All wind readings in the women’s sprints were under the allowable limit of 2.0mps.
NCAA finalist Bianca Stuart ended Jackie Edwards’ dominance in the Long Jump. Stuart, who attends Southern Illinois University, won in a personal best of 6.50m, a “B” qualifying standard.
Yet another Olympics for Eve
Lavern Eve, who turned 43 years of age on June 16th, won the Javelin Throw with a 56.58m performance, the “B” standard in this event. Eve has been on Bahamian National Teams since 1980.
The meet had the largest crowd in many years, some say even larger than the 2005 Senior Central American and Caribbean Championships that the Bahamas hosted.
The Bahamas will send a large team to the Senior Central American and Caribbean Championships this coming weekend in Cali, Colombia.
Alpheus Finlayson for the IAAF
