Layla Haynes, Ashlyn Simmons and Favian Gollop rallied for silver medals as the Barbados CARIFTA track and field team tallied seven medals in the final session of the 50th CARIFTA Games which concluded at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium on Monday in Nassau, Bahamas.
The medal-filled session increased the country’s tally to 11 which comprised two gold medals, six silver medals and three bronze medals.
Haynes placed second in the Under-20 girls’ 800 metres final with a time of 2:11.90. The middle-distance queen stayed off the early pace but showed her strength and sprinting ability to overtake several athletes and dip for silver, behind Michelle Smith of United States Virgin Islands who was a convincing winner in 2:09.72 minutes. Haynes’ CARIFTA 2023 medal tally stands at two after her 1500 metres victory on Saturday.
Simmons settled for the second position in the 800 metres in a personal record of 2:16.28 minutes. The 14-year-old Bryan, who is still an Under-15 athlete, received the first of two CARIFTA debut medals when she prevailed for the bronze in a personal best of 2:16.81 minutes.
Gollop continued Barbados’ medal hunt in the 800 metres with his silver-medal performance in the Under-20 boys’ race. Having started slowly he worked efficiently to ease his way into second position in a personal best of 1:52.92 minutes.
Nya Browne won bronze in the Under-20 girls’ 110m hurdles. (Picture by Jameel Springer)
Hurdler Nya Browne copped a bronze medal in the straight final of the Under-20 girls’ 100 metres hurdles. Her time of 13.80 seconds is a new personal record, almost a full second faster than her 2022 bronze medal time of 14.63 seconds. Browne’s time also beats her previous best of 13.97 seconds at the 2023 Barbados Secondary Schools Athletics Championships (BSSAC). Maliah Edwards finished fourth in 14.19 seconds.
Nikkolai Kennedy, who originally finished fourth in the Under-20 boys’ 110m hurdles, was upgraded to bronze after Jamaican Shaquane Gordon was deemed to have false started. His time was 14.02 seconds, while Jadon Pearce was sixth in 14.37.
From left: Kadia Rock, Ariel Archer, Chanecia Bryan and Aniya Nurse won silver in the Under-17 girls’ 4×400 relay. (Picture by Jameel Springer)
There was more sweet silver thanks to the Under 17 girls’ 4 x 400 metres quartet of Kadia Rock, Ariel Archer, Bryan and Aniya Nurse in 3:50.49 minutes, behind Jamaica in 3:43.43.
Fynn Armstrong was 10th in the Under-20 boys’ 5000 metres in 16:40.19 minutes.
In the sprints, young Nurse faded into an eighth-placed finish in the final of the Under-17 girls’ 200 metres, crossing the line in 25.15 seconds in her penultimate act of the meet.
Overseas-based sprinter Khristel Martindale was presented with an excellent opportunity to medal in the Under-20 girls’ 200 metres when she ran a brilliant curve from lane 2 but the Lewis University athlete fell away crucially in the final 20 metres to slip to fourth in her fastest ever time of 24.25 seconds.
Aragorn Straker and Amani Mascoll-Beckles were non-starters in the Under-20 boys’ 200 metres final after sustaining injuries on Sunday night in the 4 x 100 metres relay.
Even without the availability of top Mascoll-Beckles and Josiah Parris, Barbados managed to field an Under-20 boys’ 4 x 400 metres relay team of Amir Gustave, Amari Knight, Kennedy and Gollop, placing fifth in 3:16.78 minutes.