National youth sprinter LaNica Locker has etched her name into the history books of track and field in Antigua and Barbuda, becoming the country’s first female athlete to win a medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games.
The 17-year-old Ottos Comprehensive School (OCS) student, clocked 23.56 seconds to claim bronze in the 200 Meters Girls’ Under-18 Final on Thursday afternoon at the meet being held in Trinidad.
Faith Okwuosa (23.36) and Justina Tia Eyakpobeyan (23.47) both of Nigeria, were first and second respectively.
The team is expected to return to Antigua on Sunday.
Antigua and Barbuda’s Tahir Walsh won 100 meters gold and 200 meters silver at the 2011 instalment of the games held in India while in 2017, Sheldon Noble won gold in the long jump.
Meanwhile, sprinters Kasiya Daley and Dwayne Fleming both advanced to the final of the men’s 100 meters under-18 sprint at the Commonwealth Youth Games. Daley registered a time of 10.87 seconds in his semifinal heat, while Fleming clocked 10.90 seconds to advance to the final.
Daley, who recently won gold at the NACAC Championships, however registered a time of 10.67 seconds to finish seventh in the final. Fleming was unable to compete in the final after reportedly falling ill.
Meanwhile, Locker and Geolyna Dowdye had just missed podium spots in the 100 meters under-18 event, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Dowdye registered a time of 11.66 in fourth while Locker clocked 11.67 seconds to finish fifth in the highly competitive final.
Meanwhile, at the Pan American Junior Championships held in Puerto Rico, sprinter Ajani Daley finished seventh in the men’s 200 meters final, posting a time of 21.28 seconds. Daley had previously registered a time of 21.33 in the preliminaries.
Antigua and Barbuda’s other contender, US-based Shavique Bascus, registered a DNS (Did Not Start) after having clocked 20.99 seconds in the preliminaries. Reports are that Bascus fell ill with a suspected stomach bug.
Daley finished sixth in the men’s 100 meters final after posting a time of 10.55 seconds. The race was captured by Tyler Azcano in a time of 10.26 seconds. Meanwhile, Bascus registered a DNS (Did Not Start) after clocking 10.76 in heat three to qualify for the final.