Official Calls For Speedy Yasco Upgrade Following Subpar Carifta Showing

A sports ministry official and a national athletics coach, Evans “Jawakie” Jones, has renewed calls for the speedy renovation of the country’s lone track and field facility, the YASCO Sports Complex.
His call follows the country’s below average showing at the recent Carifta Games held in the Bahamas, where Antigua and Barbuda won only two bronze medals. “I think we are at the level now where we need to step up both the association and the ministry and corporate Antigua and Barbuda to facilitate these athletes because the work they have put in is tremendous based on the condition of YASCO. All three athletes had injuries prior, from the same YASCO, and there are quite a few other athletes who are injured or have been injured from the same facility,” he said.
Sprinter Soniya Jones captured bronze in the girls’ 100 metres finals while Taeco O’garro grabbed bronze in the boys’ triple jump. Beyond YASCO however, Jones highlighted a number of otherissues affecting performance. He said these include, “Getting the guys [athletes] a gym, proper nutrition, massage therapist and a whole lot of things like a physiotherapist and even regular checkup at the doctor,” Jones said.
He also noted that this is the first year that both athletes who won medals were performing in the under 20 category. Long distance runner, Kalique St. Jean, just missed medals in the 1500 and 5000 metres events when he finished fourth and fifth respectively. Antigua and Barbuda finished at the bottom of the table with two medals. Meanwhile, Hailey Derrick was the country’s lone medalist at the Carifta Swimming Championships in Jamaica, winning bronze in the 400 metres butterfly with a time of 4 minutes and 55 seconds (4:55.96).