Former Carifta champion Alexxe Henry is among four T&T athletes based in Jamaica who have attained the qualifying standards for this year's Carifta Track and Field Championships scheduled for the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo in Port-of-Spain from April 19-22.
Henry, Xiah Tobias, Kyah Hyson and Makaelan Woods got their qualifying marks at the Jamaica Carifta Trials held at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica from February 28 to March 2. The quartet joined the list of local athletes who have achieved the required times and distances for the top regional junior athletic meet.
Henry, a sixth-form student at Edwin Allen High School, sped below the 11.84 standard for the Girls Under-20 100 metres when she clocked 11.58 in the preliminary round on the first day of the Jamaican Carifta Trials on February 28. The Zenith club-member was second in Heat Four and the third-fastest overall.
Henry helped T&T to gold in the Girls U-17 4x100m relay at the 2023 Carifta Games in Nassau, Bahamas.
She missed the Girls U-20 200m 24.67 standard by 0.02 seconds when she clocked 24.69 in St Catherine, Jamaica on January 11.
Tobias, who competes for Vere Tech, leaped over the 5.42m Girls U-17 long jump barrier with a distance of 5.58m which she achieved in winning the Girls U-17 event at the Jamaica Carifta Trials. The Zenith lass also had a mark of 5.53m in the competition. Tobias was also going for qualifying times in the 100m (12.04) and the 200 (24.74) but clocked 12.46 and 25.36, respectively, in the first round of both sprints. She was a member of T&T's Girls U-17 4x100m team which copped bronze at the 2024 Carifta Games in Grenada.
Hyson, a student of Camperdown High, dipped below the Girls U-17 400m asking time of 56.43 when she stopped the clock at 56.29 in the preliminaries at the Jamaica Carifta Trials. The FAP club athlete missed out in the 200m with her 25.72 time in the first round. Hyson won bronze at the 2024 Carifta Games as a member of the local girls' U-17 4x400m team.
Woods of Jamaica College zipped under the 21.74 standard for the Boys U-20 200m when he crossed the line 21.54 in the first round at the Carifta Trials. The IG Fastlane sprinter was shy of the Boys' U-20 400m benchmark of 48.59 with his 48.64 time. He won silver at last year's Carifta Games with the national Boys' U-17 4x400m team.
Jamaica College's Jabari Branche and Kille Reid of St Elizabeth Tech missed out in the 400m with Branche producing 50.22 and Reid, 50.31.
Reid returned to contest the 800m and clocked 1:56.74 in the Boys' U-20 800m. The former Signal Hill student was aiming at the 1:55.80 Carifta standard.
Anderson Burris (Clarendon) and Jaidi James (Jamaica College) similarly did not achieve the required standards in the Boys' U-20 400m hurdles and high jump, respectively. Burris completed the preliminary round of the Boys' U-20 400m hurdles in 56.42. The Mercury athletic club quartermiler was going for the 55.19 standard. James cleared 6.63m in the Boys' U-20 long jump. The 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games silver medallist's target distance was 7.20m.
Tannon Neimeyer (Ascend) is one of the latest local athletes to surpass the Carifta standard in T&T. Neimeyer got over the Boys' U-17 javelin 45.62 barrier with 47.40 at the Golden League Athletics Grass Series Diego Martin-leg on February 22.
T&T athletes at the Jamaica Carifta Trials, Kington, Jamaica, Feb 28-Mar 2
Girls U-20 100m (Carifta standard-11.84): Alexxe Henry (Edwin Allen/Zenith) - 3rd (2h4) prelims 11.58 (-1.1)
Girls U-17 long jump (5.42): Xiah Tobias (Vere Tech/Zenith) - 1st 5.58 (5.53, 5.58)
Girls U-17 400m (56.43): Kyah Hyson (Camperdown/FAP) - prelims (3h2) 56.29
Boys U-20 200m (21.74): Makaelan Woods (Jamaica College/IG Fastlane) - prelims (5h4) 21.54, 21.74 (4th Queens/Grace Jackson, National Stadium, Kingston, January 25)
Girls U-17 100m prelims: Tobias (4h2) 12.46
Girls U-17 200m prelims: Tobias (5h1) 25.36
Girls U-20 200m prelims: Hyson (5h2) 25.72
Boys 400m: Woods 48.64, Jabari Branche (Jamaica College/Abilene Wildcats) 50.22; Kille Reid (St Elizabeth Tech/Tobago Select) 50.31
Boys 400m hurdles (55.19): Anderson Burris (Clarendon/Mercury) 56.42
Boys 800m (155.86): Reid 1:56.74
Boys long jump (7.20): Jaidi James (Jamaica College/Unattached) 6.63
