Austin, Barrington looking to clock better times this season

Early Season Classic…

The middle-distance 800-metre event is always one of the most challenging ones, pushing track athletes to balance their speed and stamina in order to produce excellent performances.

With the juniors and seniors competing together at the Early Season Classic held over the past weekend, it was interesting to see how both groups of athletes would respond to the challenges they confronted.

When the dust had finally settled on the

800m event, the final race on Sunday, Adriel Austin of the Running Brave Athletics Club (RBAC) and Devaun ‘Scooby’ Barrington of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) emerged victors in the respective female and male events.
CARIFTA hopeful Adriel Austin was quite pleased with winning the gold medal, although she had not stuck to some aspects of her game plan.
“I realized I went through my first lap very fast, according to my coach; but it was good! It was good!” she noted.
This 16-year-old, who had won bronze in her pet event at the 2019 CARIFTA Games, highlighted her prime fitness in the previous year, and shared that it is her goal to get back to that stage, or even to better it.
“It was tough getting back to where I was last year, but I think I can do another personal best at CARIFTA,” Austin explained.
Having also taken gold in the 400m event over the weekend, Austin said that while it is still early in the athletics season, she is working towards recording another personal best time in the near future.
“To me, I didn’t really (like) the time I did, but I know I can improve on it. I’m looking to do a 02:09m here,” she confided.
An experienced campaigner from the GDF took gold in the male 800m event. Commonly referred to as ‘Scooby’, Devaun Barrington declared how gratified he was for the win, and shared that the quality of athletes in the event caused him to push harder for success.
This athlete also expressed optimism that he could better the time he took to cross the finish line.
“I just want to give thanks and praise to ‘The Most High’. This was my first 800m (race) for the year, and a lot of pressure was on me to deliver. These young guys have been running excellent throughout the season, so coming out here and opening with a 01:52m shows great signs of things to come,” he declared.
“The race ran exactly into my strategic plan, so it was well executed on my behalf,” Barrington went on to state.
Highlighting the impressive performance of Courtly Bobb of the Police Progressive Youth Club, Barrington said that Bobb placing second in the race speaks to the high quality of the current crop of young athletes, and is a great sign for the future of athletics in Guyana.

“The guy that got second, Courtly Bobb, it was a good showing for a junior to do 01:54m in Guyana. It’s really good! The future of athletics is looking bright with regards to the youngsters coming through the system,” he opined. (Jemima Holmes)