The opening day of the 2024 NACAC Under-18 and Under-23 Athletics Championships, hosted in Mexico, delivered mixed results for Team Barbados, with several young competitors punching their tickets to the final rounds of their events while others fell short of progression.
Barbados’ campaign got off to a flying start thanks to Nyah Clarke in the Under-18 Girls’ 100-meter sprint. The young sprinter dominated her qualifying heat, crossing the finish line in 11.91 seconds to secure an automatic spot in the final. She went on to improve her time in the title race, clocking 11.69 seconds to claim sixth place in a talented field.
In the Under-23 Women’s 100m, Kishawna Niles replicated Clarke’s qualifying success, taking third place in the second heat with a time of 11.59 seconds to advance. Her teammate Aniya Nurse narrowly missed out on progression, recording 11.74 seconds in the first heat that was not fast enough to move forward. Nimes went on to run 11.41 seconds in the final, finishing sixth overall in the competition.
For the male sprinters, Jahkye Brewster delivered a strong performance to qualify for the Under-18 Boys’ 100m final, stopping the clock at 10.60 seconds to take a qualifying spot from heat one. He stepped up his pace in the final, shaving 0.10 seconds off his qualifying time to finish fourth with a 10.50 second run. In the Under-23 Men’s 100m heats, Amari Knight missed the final cut by just 0.01 seconds behind Brewster’s qualifying time, finishing with 10.61 seconds that did not secure progression.
Moving to the 400-meter distances, Krystal Bentham suffered an early setback when she pulled up mid-race during the Under-18 Girls’ 400m preliminaries and could not finish. In the corresponding Under-18 Boys’ 400m event, however, Aidan Moore and Zacharry Wall both secured their spots in the next round. Moore claimed victory in the third heat with a time of 47.91 seconds, while Wall took second place in heat two in 47.13 seconds to advance.
In the Under-23 Women’s 400m, both Kadia Rock and Twaneise Johnson earned places in the final. Rock topped the podium in her heat, winning heat two with a 53.25 second run, while Johnson qualified by taking fifth in heat one in 53.91 seconds. For the Under-23 Men’s 400m, Shamari Greenidge-Lewis secured qualification despite only finishing fourth in his fourth heat, crossing the line in 47.44 seconds to move forward. Brandon Hinds, by contrast, missed out on a final spot after taking fifth in heat one with a time of 48.21 seconds.