Janae De Gannes leapt to gold in the Under-23 women's long jump final as the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) U-18 and U-23 Athletics Championships continued at the Una Nueva Historia Sports Complex Stadium in Tlaxcala, Mexico, on Saturday.
Overall, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has won 11 medals after two days of competition—three gold, two silver, and six bronze. They trail Jamaica’s 46 medals (19 gold, 10 silver, 17 bronze) and Mexico's 43 (16 gold, 14 silver, 13 bronze).
De Gannes secured the gold medal with a second-round mark of 6.58 metres, matching her personal best. Giana Paul ensured that two T&T athletes stood on the podium, claiming third place with a 5.95m leap in the sixth round. That mark was enough to secure bronze behind silver medallist Paola Josselyn Del Real of Mexico (6.09m).
The gold for De Gannes was her third career NACAC Championship title; she won the U-18 long jump crown in 2023 with a championship record distance of 6.11m. Both De Gannes and Paul were also part of T&T's victorious U-18 girls' 4x100m relay team three years ago.
Paul, who also won the U-18 heptathlon crown in 2023, placed seventh in the women's U-23 100m hurdles final with a time of 15.14 seconds. Jamaican Alexis James (13.08) won the gold medal, while Puerto Rican Keishla Garcia (13.53) and Maya Rollins of Barbados (13.59) took silver and bronze, respectively.
T&T's Eden Chee Wah added to the country's medal haul by winning silver in the U-18 women's 400m final. In a keenly contested race, the 15-year-old clocked a new national junior record time of 52.48 seconds, eclipsing the previous record of 52.89 set by Rae-Anne Serville in 2019.
Chee Wah finished just behind Jamaica's Shameika McLean, who won gold in 52.37. Another Jamaican, Daniellia Dixon (53.22), finished third, while T&T's Soleli-Marie Caruth, 15, took fourth in a new personal best time of 53.61.
Both T&T athletes surpassed the World Under-20 Track and Field Championships qualifying standard (55.20). However, the two lasses are ineligible to compete at the World U-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon (August 5-9) because they are too young under World Athletics age regulations.
In the preliminary heats, Chee Wah won heat one in 54.66 seconds, ahead of McLean (54.82) and Antigua & Barbuda's Tyra Tiara Fenton (56.27). Dixon won heat two in 54.93, followed by Bahamian Keyezra Thomas (55.96) and Haitian Annette McGrath (56.04), with Caruth placing fourth in 56.26 to advance to the final as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers.
Nyla Kerr secured a bronze medal for T&T in the U-18 women's 1,500m with a time of 4:53.55. She finished behind gold medallist Mexican Kenya Cuahutle, who won in 4:45.80, and silver medallist Cintia Nayeli Gomez (4:47.24).
In the U-23 women's 1,500m, Aniqua Bailey also settled for bronze, clocking 5:12.55. She trailed the Mexican duo of Dafne Pooleth Juarez (4:39.81) and Aislinn Abril Rojas (4:49.20). Meanwhile, Tafari Waldron placed fifth in the men's U-23 1,500m in 4:16.35, missing out on a podium finish.
Hannah Reid (Phoenix) did not finish the Women's U-23 400m final. Reid had put herself in medal contention after lowering her personal best to 53.49 in Friday's preliminary round, qualifying as the second-fastest finisher from heat one behind Puerto Rico's Andrea Rivera (52.38).
In the men's 400m, Khordel Lewis placed third in heat one in 49.05 and missed out on advancing, while Alfred Pierre failed to finish heat two. Cheyne West placed eighth in the Under-23 men's 400m hurdles final with a time of 1:01.67.
Jayden Maxwell secured fifth place in the U-23 men's triple jump final on the first day. Maxwell, an U-20 competitor, recorded a best distance of 14.99m in the fourth round, improving on the 14.77m mark he hit two rounds prior.
On the track, Aaron Charles led a strong contingent of T&T sprinters who secured lanes in today's 200m finals. Charles topped the U-23 men's 200m preliminary rounds, winning the third and final heat in a swift 20.28. His time was just 0.03 seconds off his personal best of 20.25, set when he won the national title at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on June 21. The University of Minnesota student will look to improve on his seventh-place finish in Friday's 100m final with the medal race scheduled for today at 11.12 am (T&T time).
The quartet of Eden Chee Wah (Memphis Pioneers), Jael Peters (Burnley), J'Quan Douglas (Zenith), and Kamari Diaz (Simplex) also advanced to the half-lap medal run.
Chee Wah and Peters will contend for medals in the U-18 women's 200m final. Chee Wah (24.00) was the second-fastest qualifier overall, while Peters (24.03) was third quickest, with both athletes winning their respective heats. The final is carded for 11.00 am today.
In the U-18 men's 200m heats, Douglas (21.94) and Diaz (21.57) qualified in the sixth and eighth spots overall after placing second and third in their respective heats.
In relay action, misfortune struck the U-18 boys' 4x100m relay, as the T&T quartet was disqualified along with Caribbean neighbour Barbados.
