Brown and Burns centre of the picture, moments after their sub-10 race (© Dexter Philip - Trinidad Express)
Marc Burns and Darrel Brown featured in the first-ever wind legal sub-10 second 100 metres race in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), on day one of the Sagicor National Open Track and Field Championships, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, last night.
Burns finds another gear
With a 1.0 metres per second wind at his back, well inside the 2.0m/s allowable limit, Rebirth’s Burns surged to the line in 9.96, a huge improvement on his previous best of 10.11.
Silver Bullet’s Brown seized silver in 9.99 to become only the third T&T sprinter to dive under ten seconds, joining Burns and Ato Boldon (9.86) in the elite club.
US-born Aaron Armstrong, also of Rebirth, earned bronze in a personal best 10.04. There were personal records too for the other Rebirth sprinters in the eight-man championship race. Jacey Harper clocked 10.10 to finish fourth, while Kevon Pierre got home in 10.22 to cop fifth spot.
Halfway down the track, Burns looked in control in the 100m final. But Brown had another gear, the 2003 World Championship silver medallist coming on strong at the end. Burns, though, had done enough to stay in front, propelling to the line in a time that earned him second spot on the world season list, behind Jamaican World record holder Asafa Powell (9.77). Brown moved into joint-third, with Ghana’s Aziz Zakari.
Before climbing the rostrum to receive his gold medal, Burns revealed that his coach Henry Rolle expected him to join the sub-10 club, last night. "I was just listening to whatever he said, and I just did exactly what he said to do. I can’t give enough credit to my coach."
Brown said he feels great to be a sub-10 sprinter. "I feel I’ve silenced them (the critics) a good bit tonight. Just two bad races, and they were talking all kind of stuff."
Junior record goes in women’s dash
Zenith Tobago’s Kelly-Ann Baptiste whipped the field to capture the women’s 100m title. The 18-year-old sprinter smashed her own national junior record, bolting to the line in a fast 11.17 seconds, nine-hundredths of a second faster than her previous personal best.
Mid-way through the race, Baptiste started separating herself from the field. Neither Cayman Islands sprinter Cydonie Mothersill-Modibo, Concorde’s Fana Ashby nor Ayanna Hutchinson of Phoenix was able to challenge the teenager in the final stages, Baptiste winning comfortably.
Mothersill-Modibo (11.24) and Ashby (11.29) earned silver and bronze, respectively, while Hutchinson (11.36) copped fourth spot.
Kwame Laurence (Trinidad Express) for the IAAF
Results
Men
100m (wind: +1.0 metres per second)
1 Marc Burns (Rebirth) 9.96
2 Darrel Brown (Silver Bullet) 9.99
3 Aaron Armstrong (Rebirth) 10.04
400m
1 Damion Barry (Tigers) 45.55
2 Renny Quow (Zenith Tobago) 45.82
3 Ato Modibo (Simplex) 45.86
1500m
1 Denzil Ramirez (Defence Force) 3:58.38
2 Garvin Nero (Memphis) 4:02.96
3 Nigel Phillip (Palo Seco) 4:08.24
110m Hurdles (wind: -1.7 m/s)
1 Sanchaze Ross (Eagles) 14.20
2 Keal Armstrong (TobagoFalcons) 14.90
3 Jerome Guy (Unattached) 15.90
High Jump
1 James Grayman (Antigua) 2.03m
2 Kevin Huggins (QRC) 1.95m
3 Kyrie Caton (Zenith Tobago) 1.95m
Long Jump
1 Keita Cline (British Virgin Islands) 7.53m (wind: 0.0 m/s)
2 Mikel Courtney (Toco TAFAC) 7.10m (wind: 0.0 m/s)
3 Kyrie Caton (Zenith Tobago) 6.78m (wind: +1.6 m/s)
Shot Put
1 Adonson Shallow (St Vincent) 15.28m
2 Charles Walcott (Barbados) 14.86m
3 Wade Franklyn (Zenith) 13.78m
Javelin Throw
1 Andre Andrews (Warriors) 51.49m
2 James Eastmand (Morvant Jets) 48.01m
3 Hamandi Haynes (Palo Seco) 47.91m
Women
100m (wind: +0.6 m/s)
1 Kelly-Ann Baptiste (Zenith Tobago) 11.17 (National Junior Record)
2 Cydonie Mothersill-Modibo (Cayman Islands) 11.24
3 Fana Ashby (Concorde) 11.29
400m
1 Josanne Lucas (TobagoFalcons) 53.59
2 Kelsey Toussaint (Zenith Tobago) 54.06
3 Sade StLouis (Memphis) 54.61
1500m
1 Pilar McShine (Success & Excellence) 4:36.00
2 Janil Williams (Antigua) 4:37.34
3 Samantha Shukla (Success & Excellence) 4:48.15
Long Jump
1 Rhonda Watkins (Bishop Anstey) 6.19m (wind: +2.5 m/s)
2 Sheron Mark (QRC) 6.09m (wind: +0.3 m/s)
3 Joanna Trotman (United Kingdom) 5.87m (wind: +2.3 m/s)
Javelin Throw
1 Kwema Phillander (Palo Seco) 36.10m
2 Venice Frederick (Success & Excellence) 35.07m
3 Natalie Dixon(Neon Trackers) 35.02m
