After a nine-year hiatus, the sub-regional ANOCES OECS Senior Track and Field Championships returned in 2026, hosted in Basseterre, St Kitts. Among the competing nations, the tri-island Caribbean state of Grenada fielded a compact but highly effective 8-athlete delegation that defied its small size to deliver a historic, medal-laden performance that cemented the nation’s standing as a competitive force in Eastern Caribbean track and field.
What stood out most about Grenada’s campaign was not just the medal count, but the unprecedented wave of facility records broken across four different events. Multiple athletes delivered career-best performances that rewrote the host venue’s record books, marking one of the nation’s strongest outings at a senior regional athletics competition in recent memory.
Fresh off claiming the NJCAA national title in the United States, rising star Suerena Alexander kicked off Grenada’s gold medal run with a win in the women’s javelin. Her winning throw of 48.51 meters shattered the existing facility record, coming within just 1.84 meters of Candesha Scott’s 2016 OECS Championships all-meet record of 50.35 meters. Alexander did not stop there: on the second day of competition, she added a bronze medal to her haul with a 13.28-meter throw in the women’s shot put.
Post-collegiate standout Gamali Felix claimed Grenada’s second individual gold in the men’s 400-meter dash, stopping the clock at a blistering 45.94 seconds to take the title and notch another new facility record. This victory marked the first time Grenada has claimed gold in the men’s 400-meter event since the modern iteration of the OECS Championships was added to the sub-regional athletics calendar. Felix would go on to contribute a second gold later in the meet as part of the mixed 4x400m relay squad.
In the women’s long jump, Brinel Thomas delivered a clutch performance to secure Grenada’s third individual gold, leaping 5.48 meters to claim the title and the event’s third facility record of the championships for Grenada.
The final race of the meet brought Grenada its fourth gold, as the mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Cheffonia Houston, Matthew Paul, Keishawna Phillip, and Gamali Felix put on a masterclass of coordinated racing to dominate the field. Their finishing time of 3:27.60 set a fourth new facility record, missing the 2023 senior national record of 3:27.22 by a mere 0.38 seconds in a near-miss for the history books.
Beyond the gold medal performances, Grenada athletes added three additional bronze medals to round out the final standings. In the men’s javelin, Jayvonni Neckles threw 56.61 meters to finish third, behind gold medalist Malique Francis of Antigua & Barbuda, who set a new national junior record with a 66.11-meter throw. On the final day of competition, Cheffonia Houston pulled off a rare triple of events: after placing sixth in the open women’s 400-meter with a time of 57.61 seconds, she claimed bronze in the women’s long jump with a 4.51-meter leap, before turning in a brilliant lead-off leg to anchor the mixed relay squad to gold.
Grenada’s sprinters also turned in solid performances in the individual short sprints: Keishawna Phillip clocked 12.11 seconds to finish sixth in the competitive women’s 100-meter dash, while teammate Shade John placed eighth with a 12.38-second run. The pair were slated to join Thomas and Houston to contest the women’s 4x100m relay, but meet organizers ultimately called off the event before it could be held.
With every athlete entered in competition delivering points or podium finishes, Grenada completed the championships with a 100% conversion rate from its small roster. The successful outing builds critical momentum for the nation’s senior track and field athletes as they prepare for the major competitions that make up the peak of the 2026 summer athletic calendar.