Grand
Cayman, Cayman Islands –
Suriname and St. Maarten are hoping to break their CARIFTA Games
medal drought and are expressing confidence in their teams ahead of
this year’s meet which takes place at the Truman Bodden Sports
Complex over Easter weekend (20 to 22 April).

Team
Suriname believes that, based on previous CARIFTA results, the team
has contenders for at least four medals.

“Tichani
Sake is a promising high jumper who is progressing rapidly as is
Alicia Grootfaam in the girls' U17 shot put,” said an official from
the Suriname Athletics Federation. “Marciano Shepper, our U20 male
long jumper, is jumping steadily over 7.00m, Monifah Djoe, our triple
jump U20 girl, jumps over 12.30m and Jair Soekhlal, our triple jump
U17 boy, will be very prominent too.”

Dave
Vinisi (U17 boys’ 800m) and Ronaldinhio Pinas (U20 boys’ 5,000m)
round out the Suriname team, and though very talented, will be up
against some stiff competition, the official added.

Suriname
last won two medals in 2016, a gold and bronze, and missed out on the
medal podium by a few centimetres in 2018 when Monifah Djoe finished
fourth in the girls' triple jump with a jump of 12.11m.

Five
athletes will represent St. Maarten at CARIFTA 2019. Leshawn Brown,
who will take part in the octathlon and javelin, is the country’s
best hope for a medal and Zairo Melfor, a newcomer with lots of
talent, could surprise some athletes in the 800m and 1500m, according
to team management.

“CARIFTA
means the world for our athletes,” the Sint Maarten Amateur
Athletic Association said in a statement. “This opens doors to
scholarships in the UK, Canada, USA and Holland and also the
possibility of being on the Netherlands National Team for European
competitions.”

St.
Maarten, like Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Curacao, is
an European overseas territory but they are Associate Members of the
North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association
(NACAC), which governs the athletics organisations in the region.

St.
Maarten’s last medal at a CARIFTA Games was a silver one in 2015.
The Association attributes the stall in their performance to
political changes and hurricanes which have affected the country but
says that though they are struggling, the organisation recognises
that the athletes need to continue their development.

Cayman
recently qualified eight athletes for CARIFTA at the CUC CARIFTA
Trials which was held on 22 and 23 March. Rasheem Brown (U20 110mh,
100m), Victor Magalhaes (U20 1500m, 5000m), Levi Superville (U17
1500m, 3000m), Juan Pablo Valerio (U17 1500m), Joshua Cox (U17 400m),
Ashantae Graham (U17 Long Jump), Ariyana Ebanks (U17 Shot Put) and
James Crooks (U17 3000m) are now eligible for selection to the Cayman
team.

There
will be a final opportunity to qualify on Saturday, 6 April at the
newly upgraded track at Truman Bodden Sports Complex.

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.