By Neto Baptiste
The Antigua and Barbuda Athletics Association (ABAA) has named a six-member squad ahead of this year’s NACAC Under-18 and Under-23 Track and Field Championships slated for 21-23 July in San Jose Costa Rica.
The team is headlined by female sprinters, LaNica Locker and Geolyna Dowdye, while male sprinters Dwayne Fleming, Kasiya Daley and Darion Skerritt are also included. Locker won both the 100 and 200 meters events at the recently held national championships, while Skerritt is the reigning 200 meters champion. The other member of the team is Maliek Francis.
Coach of the team, Kesswin Anthony, is confident in the athletes’ ability to perform at a high level.
“All of these athletes would have competed at Carifta and some are medalists but, more importantly, some of them have developed new personal bests since Carifta. They are running faster, throwing further so we expect a good competition. At Carifta, our girls had to run in the under-20 category but this meet they are also in the under-18 category so we expect them to perform credibly well, make the final and challenge for a medal,” he said.
Anthony added that the athletes would have received adequate competition ahead of the approaching meet.
“All of us train at the same venue so you see each of these athletes on a daily basis and you see what they are doing and you see they look good in training and they are getting better. One of the things I did [as a coach] was go to Grenada for pre-competition before the nationals because I knew they would not have been anything after nationals leading up to these games. So, sometimes you need that race sharpness in order to be competitive going into these events. With our nationals gone maybe just a week and a half ago they would still be in pretty good shape going into the meet on the 21st and 23rd which is about two weeks away,” he said.
Joanne Small will travel as the team’s Manager/Chaperone. The team will leave for Costa Rica on July 18.
