The Guyanese Track and Field team has ended their Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) weekend on a high, capturing a record nine medals, on the other hand 12 year old Aleka Persaud continues to rack up medals in the pool.
The third and final day of Track and Field competition in the Cayman Islands saw Guyana adding two more medals to the seven accumulated over the weekend. While it is has not surpassed the highest medal count for Guyana at the CARIFTA games, for the first time the 21 member team is returning home with 4 gold medals.
On Easter Monday, Claudrice McKoy added a bronze medal to her gold after she finished third in the Women’s Open 3000M race.
Clocking 10.37.43s, The Munroe College athlete, McKoy, made the podium behind Bermuda’s Isabell Dutranoit (10:21.63) and Jamaica’s Kelly-Ann Beckford (10:28 13).
Berbice’s Matthew Gordon ensured that he would finish his CARIFTA outing with a gold of his own after missing out on the podium positions in the Boys U17 1500M event.
In the ultimate distance race, 3000M, Gordon focused and pushed his abilities to cross the finish line ahead of the pack. He finished in 9.12.43s, one second before Bermuda’s Nathan Armstrong (9:13.13) and The Bahamas’ Mitchell Curtis (9:16.86).
As such, the largest Guyanese contingent to represent the Golden arrowhead at the regional event finished with four gold, two silver and three bronze medals. Chantoba Bright (1 gold, 1 bronze), Claudrice McKoy (1 gold, 1 bronze), Anisha Gibbons (1 gold), Joanna Archer (1 silver), Shauqa Tyrell (1 bronze), Adriel Austin (1 bronze) and the lone male Matthew Gordon (1 gold) were the athletes who medaled for Guyana.
Over at the Barbados Aquatic center in Wildey, Aleka Persaud added to her CARIFTA collection with another gold medal.
The 12 year old swimming sensation completed the 100M freestyle in a time of 1.02.39s to take gold. She was closely followed by Harper Barrowman of the Cayman Islands who had to settle for silver (1:03.04).
Despite missing out on the podium in the 200M Individual medley where she clocked 2:42.42s and placed fourth, Persaud will still go on to represent Guyana at the Caribbean and Central American Championships in the latter half of this year.
There she will compete in the 100M and 50M butterfly and the 100M freestyle. The twelve year old has two gold and two bronze medals so far.
