media_artricles :: 2012

Farinha beats Cedenio for 200 title

Jonathan Farinha held off Machel Cedenio to win the National Junior Track and Field Championship boys' under-18 200 metres final, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, yesterday.

Farinha completed the half-lap race in a personal best 21.19 seconds, beating Cedenio (21.28) into second spot.

Sixteen-year-old Farinha was in front coming off the turn, but it was Cedenio who was stronger on the straight, closing the gap on the leader. However, the 400m champion ran out of track, Farinha claiming gold and bettering the 21.20 World Junior standard in the process.

Jereem Richards clocked 21.01 seconds to strike gold in the boys' under-20 half-lap final, the World Indoor Championship mile relay bronze medallist completing the 400/200 double. Richards achieved the World Junior standard in both events.

Kernesha Spann and Brandon Benjamin also attained World Junior standards.

Spann returned a time of one minute, 00.43 seconds to triumph in the girls' under-20 400m hurdles. And in the boys' under-20 one-lap hurdles, Benjamin won in 51.76 seconds—a new personal record (PR).

Though Keshorn Walcott had an ordinary day at the office, he still threw well beyond the 66.50m World Junior qualifying standard in the boys' under-20 javelin. Walcott won the competition with his only legal throw, the 69.65m effort falling well short of his 80.11m Pan American junior record.

A total of ten athletes attained World Junior standards at the two-day National Junior Championships. Those ten, in addition to 22 other athletes achieved Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior standards.

The list of 32 includes reigning Carifta Games boys' under-20 800m champion Mark London. The Tobagonian won yesterday's two-lap event in 1:51.82, more than two seconds faster than the 1:54.00 CAC Junior time.

Another Carifta 2012 gold medallist, Kenejah Williams, threw 17 metres flat to claim the top spot in the boys' under-18 shot put. Both Williams and second-placed Shervonne Worrell (16.33m) landed the iron ball well beyond the 15.60m CAC Junior distance.

Shaiann Charles produced a 40.85m effort for gold in the girls' under-18 discus.

Kevin Roberts, a boys' under-18 long jump qualifier on day one, attained CAC standards yesterday in both the high jump and octathlon. He cleared the bar at 1.90m in the high jump and accumulated 5,071 points in the octathlon.

Roberts was one of five qualifiers in the eight-discipline octathlon. Victor Isaac (4,944), Kashief King (4,435), Malik Tarbell (4,274) and Ashton Gill (4,185) also bettered the 4,000-point CAC Junior standard.

Both Ayana Glasgow and Meriah Freeman made light work of the 3,100-point girls' under-18 heptathlon standard. Glasgow totalled 4,036 points to top the seven-discipline event, while Freeman was second with 3,980 points.

Cedenio was a double CAC qualifier (boys' under-18 200/400) on the weekend. Also attaining a CAC Junior standard on each of the two days of the meet were Richards (boys' under-20 400/200), Benjamin (boys' under-20 400/400 hurdles), Worrell (boys' under-18 discus/shot put), Kayelle Clarke (girls' under-18 100/200), Jevon Joseph (boys' under-18 1,500/3,000) and Ruebin Walters (boys' under-18 110 hurdles/400 hurdles).

Yesterday, Clarke topped the 200m field in 24.41 seconds, Joseph clocked 9:11.76 to emerge victorious in the 3,000m, and Walters won the one-lap hurdles in 53.20.

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