Published 4 July 2017
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News
In spite of the inclement weather, national teams participating in the 3rd OECS Championships fiercely competed for glory, honour and a chance to qualify for the World Championships in the summer. Host country led from the front on the opening day of the OECS Games as friendly rivalry was keen between nine countries in the OECS region. Gerard Joseph was there on Saturday and sends us this story.
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The top athletes from St. Kitts and Nevis competed in the 2017 OECS Championships, from July 1st to the 2nd.
WINNFM spoke to Head Coach Stewart Joseph, about the athletes’ performances in the games, and who placed in the 3rd Annual OECS Track and Field Championships.
“The athletes who we expected to perform did perform they had Warren Hazel, I think he broke the record again in the 400 meters, the newest record, placed first in the 400 meters, second in the 200 meters. We had Jason Rogers placed first in the 100 meters, Tameka Williams placed first in the 100 meters, Jermaine Francis, our high jumper, the CARIFTA gold medalist record holder; he also won the high jump. Relay teams came second in the 4 by 100 Meters. Kristal Liburd came third in the long jump event on the track, we did well in the sprints, Massi Jeffers came second in the 1500 meters.”
Mr. Joseph says that none of the athletes qualified for the IAAF World Championships, but should be commended for their performances nonetheless.
“We had no qualifiers for World, I think Tameka, Warren, and probably Jason Rogers those are the closest we had to qualify. Warren he ran 45.74, the qualifying mark is 45.50, but when you look at the conditions, the effort that was put forward, it has to be what we call quite commendable because it was raining all weekend, the ran in the rain, for most of these events they competed in the rain, and it was new to most of them because here everything stops, not here, everything continues that’s normal. Antione Adams he got a slight injury, he had to do it on an injury he had earlier this evening so he was not able to finish or go on or compete in the finals.”
The Women’s 4 by 100 Meter Relay Team and the Men’s 4 by 100 Meter Relay Team who both placed second in the championships were highlighted by the head coach for their athleticism.
“The 4 by 100 meter Female Relay Team was made up of Shenel Crooke, Tameka Williams, Kristal Liburd, and Virgil Hodge, and they came second and they ran 45 [seconds], one of the fastest times for the female team in years, the Male Team was Hakeem Huggins, Jason Rogers, Lestrod Roland, and Brijesh Lawrence, that was the other team and they came second and again they have to be commended because they had no time to practice, they just ran together for the first time when they got there.”
The 3rd OECS Track and Field Championships were held in St. Georges, Grenada, which was revived by the St. Kitts & Nevis Amateur Athletic Association in 2014, after reaching an agreement that the games will be funded by the OECS Association of National Olympic Committees.
The overall winners of the games were the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis.http://www.winnfm.com/…/22764-top-st-kitts-nevis-athletes-w…
