Top Notch performances highlight wet & windy Harrigan-Scott Classic
The competition, named in honour of Tahesia Harrigan-Scott, saw promising performances in the field before a power outage briefly threatened to curtail the action and more so with the presence of showers of rain and a gusty wind, when the lights returned.
Top Notch Track Club’s Tynelle Gumbs beat her own Discus mark of 30.66m with a heave of 36.95m in the U20 Girls event. Twin sister Trevia also improved her previous best mark of 29.95m to 34.53m.
Gumbs’ teammate on the U20 Boys side Eldred Henry, flung the 1.75k Discus out to 53.52m to qualify for the Pan Am Jr. Championships, becoming the #2 Jr. All time performer behind Eric Matthias’ 55.20m. Henry also had a foul that was over the 55m mark. “I drove too fast from the back of the circle and my momentum carried me too long, I just couldn’t hold my balance,” he commented.
Kala Penn, also of Top Notch Track Club, narrowly missed out on a Carifta Games qualifying distance when she hit the sand at 11.10m in the U17 Girls Triple Jump. The distance was just 15 cm short of the required minimum mark.
The delay caused by the power going out did nothing to deter the athletes on the track, but the winds that accompanied a few rain showers meant some of the times were discounted as they became wind assisted and therefore some athletes were “robbed” of Carifta Games and IAAF World Youth Championships qualifiers.
Last year’s Carifta Games U17 Girls silver medalist Nelda Huggins, also of Top Notch, currently ranked number 2 in the Caribbean and number 6 in the world over 100 metres , rode a +3.4mps breezed to an 11.83 seconds 100m win.
Sprint Tech’s Taylor Hill, who has moved up into the U20 Girls division this season, found the field more competitive, but still managed to hold off Top Notch’s Shaian Vandenburg with her winning time of 12.08 seconds in the 100m. Vandenburg’s 12.13 was her new lowest time over the 100m distance whilst Hill’s teammate, Jonel Lacey came third in 12.38.
The wind robbed Huggins, Hill and Lacey of an IAAF World Youth Championships standard.
Already with a Carifta U17 Girls 800m qualifier to her credit, Sprint Tech’s Lakeisha Warner, added the 1500m when she crossed the line in 5 minutes 04.95 seconds.
The night’s male track highlight was Top Notch’s Mark Kendal stepping up to the 400m, after winning the 100m in 10.91. He ran on the inside corridor and left the field in his wake en route to a 49.15 seconds debut victory.
U17 Boys and Kendall’s teammate Deshawn Douglas came within shouting range of the Carifta Games qualifier when he finished behind Stephens’ 50.42 with his personal best effort of 50.79.
The next meet in the Gatorade Development Series is the Rose Phillips King Adams Classic on February 9, 2013.
Overseas athletes shine
Overseas, there were some stirring performances especially by American Heritage High Sr. Khari Herbert Jr. He opened his 2013 campaign at the Jimmy Carnes Indoor Invitational in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday Janaury 26, 2013, with a 400m victory, winning the two-lapper in 49.21 seconds and followed it up with 22.58 to finish fourth in the 200m.
At the same competition, Bethune-Cookman Jr. Keron Stoute finished 2nd in the Pentathlon on Sunday January 27, 2013 after scoring 4623 points over two days of action. He covered the 55m dash in 6.69 seconds, had a Long Jump leap of 21’4”, a Shot Put heave of 35’3” then High Jumped 6’8”. His second day tally included an 8.51 seconds run in the 55m Hurdles, 10’8” Pole Vault and a 3 minutes 05 seconds run in the 1000m.
Elsewhere over the weekend, Ashley Kelley made her 400m debut in 55.23 seconds, good for fourth at the Indiana Indoor Relays in Bloomington. Portland State Vikings Sr. Dominique Maloney won her 400m heat at the Washington Huskies Invitational in 57.00 to place fourth overall and qualify for the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
Morgan State Bears Sr. Britney Wattley ran her 60m in 7.77 seconds for 6th in prelims and the same time and position in the finals at the Terrier Classic Invitational in Boston, Mass. She improved her 200m season’s best to 25.10.
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12 Responses to “Top Notch performances highlight wet & windy Harrigan-Scott Classic”
Maybe people need to check the IAAF website to see what the rankings are for both the Caribbean and the World over the distance because I did & Ms. Huggins name was not there. Not overall and not in 2012
I'm not saying she's not doing exceptional in the sport, however don't distort the facts. Rankings are rankings, when you need to start breaking them down by age to support your point, something is wrong.