8th IAAF World Youth Championships Update: Day 1

Team Bahamas got underway in a slow fashion as day one of the Championships got started in Ukraine.

Sprints

In the boys 400m Kinard Rolle finished 5th in heat 5 with a time of  49.51. Unfortunately,  his time was not good enough to advance him to the next round. On the other hand, Doris Johnson sprinter Janeko Cartwright won heat 7 with a personal best time of 47.25, and advances to the next round and keeps the hopes of making the finals alive. Kadeisha Hield, in the girls 400m, was 6th in heat 7 with a time of 57.63, and ends her quest for the quarter mile. She now shifts her focus on the 200m.

Jumps

Carifta long jump champion Laquan Nairn ended up 13th overall in the boys long jump with a leap of 7.33m. The automatic qualifying distance was 7.35m, and had Laquan finished 12th he would have made the finals. That distance was the exact distance that the next competitor leaped to advance.

Hurdles

Xavier Coakley did not disappoint in the boys 400m hurdles as he went on to finish 2nd in heat 1. Xavier's time was 54.11 seconds, and set him up for a good lane draw in the semifinals. D'mitry Charlton was 5th in heat 3 in a time of 56.09 seconds, but his competition ended there. The girls 400m hurdles saw Talia Thompson  and Mesha Newbold in action. Talia finished 7th in heat 2 and Mesha 6th in heat 4. Their times were 1:04.43 and 1:05.72 respectively.  As expected, a time of 1:02 or better was needed to make it to the semifinals.

Sprints

Makeya White was the first Bahamian female to compete in the girls 100m. She ended up 5th in heat 2 with a time of 12.62 seconds. The second competitor was the compact Jenae Ambrose who was 2nd in heat 6. Her time of 11.99 seconds easily advances her to the next round of competition. In the boys 100m heats, Ian Kerr was 3rd in heat 3 in a time of 11.04 seconds, and Keanu Pennerman 3rd in heat 4 11.21 seconds. Neither of the young men will advance to the next round. Kerr, however, will now concentrate on the 200m heats.

Team Bahamas is not done yet, so stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for live updates, and we will have a daily update on this very blog.

HAPPY 40TH INDEPENDENCE DAY BAHAMAS!!!

Photo Courtesy Kermit Taylor/ Bahamas Athletics
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