Cougars track and field club put on a spectacular performance on Sunday (July 6) to register their second consecutive success in the Mason Hall Police Youth Club (PYC) Juvenile Track Classic which was held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain, instead of the traditional venue at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Tobago.
The Cougars unit was off to a good start when Joel Diaz raced away convincingly in the 80 metres sprints for Under-9 Boys. Diaz registered the day’s fastest time when he raced home in 11.17 seconds. He beat Andrell Stewart of PT Achievers, who clocked 11.55, with Kadeem Flemming getting the bronze in 11.58.
The U-9 girls’ 80m ended just as it did at the National Juvenile Championship when Bella Rodriguez won in a time of 11.80. She beat Antoniya Taylor (12.09) of PT Achievers into second with Skyla St Rose third in 12.47.
In the U-11 boys’ category, Cougars’ Zion Phillips proved to be the best athlete in the age group with three wins in the events he participated in. He won the 80m, 150m and the Under-11 mixed relay. His time of 10.90 seconds had gold written all over it as he made all the running to win from Clubmate Kedell Thomas (11.11) and Adrenalin Ducks’ David Japheth (11.24) in third. In the 150m event, he clocked in 20.76 ahead to again finish ahead of Japeth (20.89) and Thomas (21.21) in reverse order.
In the girls’ 80m event, A’Kyah Ottley (11.22) gave the host their first gold medal when she beat Destiny Guevara (11.27) of Abilene Wildcats and J’Niah John (11.67), winning the bronze.
The U-13 events were dominated by Cougars as Naomi Phillip and Kaseem DuVerney, the national champions, shone for the eventual champion. Phillip repeated her feats winning all three of her events which included the 100m, 200m and 400m events while DuVerney defended two out of the three titles.
Phillip registered the time of 12.46 for the 100m event ahead of ZC Athletic’s Keniah Tommy with 12.88 and Kelcy Roach of Pace and Performance Factory (PPF) with 12.98. Phillip’s teammate Nahla Felix was fourth with 13.24. 2 Felix managed to get a medal in the 200m with 27.41 behind Tommy (26.80) and clubmate Phillip (25.83).
In the 400m, Phillip crossed first in 1:07.48 ahead of Perseverance Titans’ Ruth Dickson (1:08.02) and Lambeau Alliance’s Nickayla Osmond (1:08.25).
DuVerney stood out in the 100m when he raced home in 12.64, one hundredth of a second ahead of clubmate Nathan La Foucade (12.65). In third place was Daniel Alfred (Neon Wolves) with 12.98 and the 200m. He got the gold in a time of 25.59 in front of Cheetahs’ Jehu Edwards (25.64) and Neon Wolves’ Daniel Alfred (25.94). In the 400m though, DuVerney bagged the bronze with 1:04.98 behind Edwards (59.95) and Concorde’s Ayinde Agard (1:03.22), respectively.
In the U-15 category, there was a close call in the girls’ 100m between Tasia Debisette of Simplex and Kaley Wiltshire of Abilene Wildcats but the former won with 12.45. Wiltshire was second in 12.49 with Kalini Weekes (12.54) taking the bronze medal for Memphis Pioneers.
The U-15 boys’ 100m race was very good again as coach Gunness Persad has Isaiah Teesdale set to make a step up to U-17s. Teesdale (10.91) comfortably beat Josiah Kaiten (11.30) of Memphis Pioneers with PPF’s Renaldo Le Gendre (11.44) in third.
In the 800m for U-11 girls, Chelsea Lee Francois of ZC Athletic registered the time of 2:44.92. Skyla St Rose (3:01.38) of PPF was second and Sky’lar Smith (3:01.45) of Cougars was third.
In the boys’ category, Ryan Lambkin of Lions Athletics won as he liked in the time of 2:42,21. Michael Mascall (2:48.93) of Track Blazers got the silver with PPF Ace Peters (2:55.55) receiving the bronze.
Kyrell Thomas gave Cougars something to cheer about when he won the men’s 400m in the time of 47.04 from Simplex Timothy Frederick (47.14) with Cyrill Sumner (47.51) of Memphis Pioneer getting the bronze.
When the mixed relays came around, Cougars dominated the U-9 with Shae Benjamin, Cassidy Browne, Joel Diaz and Zermirah Steele. The Cougars U-11 team of Kedell Thomas, Amayah Marshall, Zion Phillip and Khalisah Ryan.
The U-13 mixed relays were a runaway success with Cougars Nathan La Foucade, Naomi Phillip, Kaseem Du Verney and Nahla Felix.
Cougars won 21 medals including 12 golds, two silvers and seven bronzes, accumulating a total of 260 points. Second place was PPF (110) with Memphis registering 84, and Simplex on 81 points in fourth.
Combined Team Scores (26 Events Scored)
1 Cougars 260, 2 PPF 110, 3 Memphis 84, 4 Simplex 81, 5 Concorde 68, 6 PT Acheivers 64, 7 Abilene Wildcats 50, 8 Perseverance Titans 48, 9 Mason Hall PYC 46, 10 ZC Athletic 43
Team*Gold*Silver*Bronze*Total
Cougars*12*2*7*21
Simplex*3*2*2*7
PPF*2*6*7*15
PTAcheivers*2*2*0*4
Cheetahs*2*2*0*4
Abilene*2*2*0*4
ZC Athletic*1*2*1*4
Mason Hall*1*2*0*3
M Pioneers*1*1*3*5
PFNJ*1*0*1*2
Unattached*1*0*1*2
