The 2007 Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) National Junior Track & Field Championships were held last weekend. Cayman Brac placed second in the medal count. Amelia Gillespie (right) receives her medal from CUC representative, Neil Murray.
The 2007 Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) National Junior Track & Field Championships last weekend became the stage on which the Brac Athletic Club (BAC) displayed their force and claimed its right as one of the Cayman Islands’ top athletic clubs.
Claiming second place in the medal count with 39 medals, they were outdone only by Mustang Track Club, which garnered 47 medals.
“The Brac Athletic Club have been attending this meet since 2004 when we could only field and afford to send 5 athletes. Since then we have continually increased our athlete participation to a record 27 athletes this year,” said Sports Instructor Mitchum Sanford.
Standouts for BAC were Ameilia Gillispie with five medals of which three were gold, one silver and one bronze, followed by Stephany Reyes, Shayla Connor and Ashley-Jade Brown, who all took home four medals each.
Edmundlee Keating had a personal best in the high jump with a leap of 1.20m to take second and seal his name to the list that will represent the club at the 2007 BAYTAF Classic in Florida later this year.
Tehri-Ann Brown could also be on her way to Florida with the team by high jumping 1.10m and tying for first in the female 11-12 division.
Evol Miller Jr showed Grand Cayman why Brackers always say, “You can’t out throw a Spot Baya,” when he took gold in the boys 9-10 division of the Cricket Ball Throw. Grabbing up the silver and bronze for the club behind Evol were, Markus Hernandez and Travis Porter. Andre Mena and Trayvon Porter followed their older club mate’s lead to take gold and silver in the boys 6-8 division, again in the Cricket Ball Throw.
“It was a fantastic performance and effort by all our athletes who made the trip - congratulations,” said Mr Sanford.
“A tremendous sacrifice by athletes, coaches and parents alike who made the early morning trip over and did not return home until around 10:30 pm that night. I tell our athletes that these trips are a reward for their commitment and dedication to the programmes, but I sometimes question the word reward when so much sacrifice is being made,” he added.
The Brac Athletic Club will be back in Grand Cayman on 21 April, 2007 for the Inaugural Track and Field Club Championships.
Coach Sanford, on behalf of the athletes and all involved, expressed thanks to CUC for its generous sponsorship, as well as the Sports Association of the Sister Islands (SASI), Progressive Distributors, Cayman Airways Ltd., Cayman Islands Athletics Association (CIAA), Brac International Travel, coaches, parents, guardians and athletes.
