By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

Day two was a tough one for Bahamian junior athletes competing at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru.

CARIFTA gold medallists Taysha Stubbs and Brenden Vanderpool tried their hands in the girls’ javelin throw and boys’ pole vault events respectively, while Kei-Mahri Hanna was on the track for the girls’ 400m hurdles at the Estadio Atlètico de la VIDENA. 

All three juniors were unable to make it out of the qualification rounds in their respective events on Wednesday. Team head coach Daron Lightbourne said that newcomers Stubbs and Hanna managed to perform well in their first appearances on the global stage. 

“In my eyes, both ladies performed the best that they could have in this present moment. Both are newcomers at this level and the experience received has sparked great enthusiasm for their future in this sport,” he said. Stubbs came into the World U-20 Championships with great promise, sporting a season’s best throwing distance of 50.94m achieved at the 2024 CARIFTA Games in St George’s, Grenada. 

Competing out of Group A, the javelin phenom heaved the spear to a distance of 44.28m on her first attempt for eleventh place. She logged distances of 43.09m and 37.24 on her second and third attempts respectively. Overall, the 16-year-old finished 21st out of 25 throwers in Group A and B combined.

Germany’s Mirja Lukas placed first in Group A with a throw of 56.76m. Sabrina Boss, of Switzerland, was one spot behind with a final distance of 52.30m for second. The third position went to Great Britain’s Ayesha Jones with a personal best toss of 51.78m.

Vanderpool, men’s pole vault CARIFTA record holder, came into the pole vault event boasting a personal best of 5.30m earned at the 2024 CARIFTA Games. He cleared the 4.80m mark for a 14th place spot in Group A, not good enough for him to advance into the finals. The Pan-American U20 bronze medallist ended his World U20 Championships stint ranked 26th out of 29 pole vaulters.

Jan Krček, of Czechia, prevailed in Group A, soaring to 5.25m. Placing second was Venezuelan Ricardo Montes with a season’s best distance of 5.25m. Augustin Becquet Perignon, representing France,  took the third position at 5.25m as well.

 Hanna was the only member of Team Bahamas to compete on the track yesterday. She made her junior global debut in the heat two of the girls’ 400m hurdles. The junior hurdler crossed the finish line in ninth place, stopping the clock at 1:04.84. 

She ended her first World Athletics U20 appearance with a 50th place finish out of 51 competitors in the event.

Michelle Smith, hailing from the Virgin Islands, led the pack and completed heat two in 57.85 seconds to qualify for the semifinals. Candice Von Plauen, representing France, turned in a personal best of 58.00 seconds in the event for second place. Zoë Laureys, of Belgium, cruised in for third in 58.99 seconds.

Quarter-miler Zion Miller was scheduled to compete for The Bahamas in the boys’ 400m event yesterday but opted to withdraw from the event due to discomfort experienced while warming up.

Coach Lightbourne expressed that the team remains in high spirits going into day three of the World U20 Championships.

“We have Carlos Brown and Andrew Styles in the men’s 200m and Tahj Brown and Tayshaun Robinson in the men’s 110mh. The athletes are still in high spirits and are eager to compete tomorrow. They are supporting each other through the sessions,” he said.

Today’s morning session kicks off with Tayshaun Robinson and Tahj Brown seeing action in the heats of the boys’ 110m hurdles at 11:20am. Alexis Roberts will then compete in the girls’ 200m heats at 12:15 pm followed by Carlos Brown Jr and Andrew Styles competing in the boys’ 200m heats at 1:10pm.

If all listed athletes manage to advance, they will return for their respective semifinals in the evening session which begins at 4:30pm.