Grand
Cayman, Cayman Islands –
US Virgin Islands (USVI), British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Dominica
may be fielding relatively small teams for the 48th annual CARIFTA
Games but they will be coming with big medal expectations when the
Games take place during Easter weekend (20 to 22 April) at the Truman
Bodden Sports Complex.

The
USVI is looking to three athletes – Mikaela Smith, Ariana Edgar and
Michelle Smith – for their athletic glory. Mikaela Smith, who ran
2:26.64 and Edgar with 11.23m were finalists at CARIFTA 2018 in the
U20 girls’ 800m and U17 girls’ shot put respectively.

Virgin
Islands Chief Youth Coach Keith Smith said their training has been
going well, and they are aiming to improve on their performances.
Coach Smith also has high hopes for his young talent Michelle Smith,
who is a medal contender in the U17 girls’ 1500m. The 14-year old
is now able to compete since the age requirement for CARIFTA has been
lowered to 13.

“I
do believe that we can win one, possibly two medals this year,”
said Smith.
“Our athletes look
forward to CARIFTA as an event to improve their performances and also
form friendships with other athletes from the Caribbean.”

In
2018, USVI won one medal, a silver in the 5k, thanks to Evan Jones’
4:02.93 effort in the U20 boys’ 1500m.

BVI
has qualified eight athletes so far for CARIFTA. Twin brothers
Diamante and Djimon Gumbs (shot put and discus U20), Palesha Ceasar
(discus U17), Arianna Hayde (long jump U20), Akrisa Eristee (400m U17
female), Jaleel Croal (100 and 200m U17), Kaelyaah Liburd (400m U17
female) and Orlando Douglas (discus U17) will travel to Cayman come
April.

BVI
Track and Field Public Relations Officer Cleave Farrington believes
the Gumb brothers, Akrisa Eristee, Jaleel Croal, Palesha Ceasar and
Arianna Hayde are the front runners to bring home medals and is
predicting a possible three pieces of hardware for BVI this year. The
island’s only CARIFTA medal is a bronze won by Rikkoi Braithwaite
in the U20 boys 100m in 2018, whose Carifta Games career is over, won
the country’s only medal, bronze.


“They
have all improved over the past few years, and most recently they
improved on their personal best marks as well. They have the drive to
succeed,” said Farrington.

Farrington
also spoke about the importance of competitions such as CARIFTA,
which is widely considered one of the best development meets in world
athletics, attracting university coaches and scouts from the US who
are attend each year to look at the up-and-coming talent in hopes of
signing promising athletes to their track and field programmes.

“CARIFTA
means a great deal to our country. It provides great opportunities
for our athletes and prepares them for future higher games.”

Team
Dominica was hoping for an impressive six medals at CARIFTA 2019 but
their preparation has been hampered by lack of training facilities
due to having to share the stadium with other sports. Godwin
Dorsett, president of the Dominica Amateur Athletic Association, said
they are hoping to get at least six more qualifiers at the end of the
High School Championships which takes place on 21 and 22 March.

The
team from the Nature Isle will be led by Ternesse Hamilton, who won
two bronze medals in The Bahamas in 2018, first throwing 13.14m in
the U17 girls' shot put and then 33.50m in the discus. Denill Linson
is the other qualified athlete for Dominica to date. He will compete
in the U20 boys 200m.

CARIFTA
tickets are now on sale for as low as $10. For more information
about CARIFTA Cayman 2019 and to purchase tickets visit
www.caymancarifta2019.ky.