Home|Sports|The Bahamas finishes sixth at U20 Pan AmsSports

Team picks up three medals – one gold, one silver and one bronze

Simba FrenchSend an emailAugust 8, 2023 221 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The Bahamas secured two medals at the 21st Pan American Under-20 (U20) Track and Field Championships which was held at the Jose A. Figueroa Freire Stadium in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, this past weekend. Action got underway on Friday and wrapped up on Sunday.

The Bahamas finished sixth in the medal standings with three total medals – one gold, one silver and one bronze.

The United States of America (USA) dominated the medal tally with 62 total medals (30 gold, 18 silver and 14 bronze), followed by Canada with 16 total medals (six gold, four silver and six bronze medals) and Jamaica with 13 total medals (one gold, eight silver and four bronze). A total of 16 nations won at least one medal.

The quartet in the boys 4×100 meters (m) relay for The Bahamas picked up the lone gold medal for the country, clocking a 

blistering 39.75 seconds. The team was made up of Zion Campbell, Carlos Brown, Jeremiah Adderley, and Adam Musgrove, in that order.

Campbell had a strong start for The Bahamas before Brown pulled it closer on the back stretch. Adderley kept The Bahamas in the mix before the under-20 national champion in the short sprints Adam Musgrove got the baton. Musgrove closed the gap on the USA, who crossed the finish line first, but were later disqualified.

The Bahamas held off Puerto Rico who finished in 40.15 seconds. Argentina powered their way to the bronze, clocking 40.26 seconds. Jamaica was also disqualified in that race.

Kaden Cartwright saved his best throw for his sixth and final attempt in the javelin. That throw saw him posting a personal best of 65.43m (214’ 8”) to pick up the silver medal for The Bahamas. His previous throws included a foul and throws that did not exceed 56 meters.

Winning the gold medal was American Mike Stein who threw 71.38m (234’ 2”). Settling for the bronze was American Blake Orr with a toss of 65.12m (213’ 7”).

The pole vault competition had two Bahamians competing in it – 2023 CARIFTA gold medalist and national record holder in that event Brenden Vanderpool and 2023 CARIFTA bronze medalist Tyler Cash. Vanderpool got the bronze medal after clearing a height of 4.75m (15’ 7”). Cash bowed out after surpassing a height of 4.45m (14’ 7-1/4”) to finish fifth.

Winning that event was American Jack Mann who cleared five meters (16’ 4-3/4”). Brazilian Aurelio de Souza Leite won the silver medal after clearing 4.90m (16’ 0-3/4”).

Musgrove qualified for the 200m final. He had to settle for fifth place with a time of 20.94 seconds. Brazilian Renan de Lima Gallina won after clocking 20.44 seconds.

Otto Laing and Tayshaun Robinson were in action in the 110m hurdles. Laing qualified for the final after clocking 13.88 seconds in the heats. Robinson clocked 14.52 seconds in the heats and did not qualify for the final. Laing clocked 13.91 seconds to finish seventh out of eight competitors. American Blaise Atkinson ran 13.46 seconds to win that race.

Shimar Bain ran 53.55 seconds in the 400m hurdles to finish fifth overall. American Bryce Tucker came away with the gold medal in a time of 51.36 seconds.

Lanaisha Lubin came away with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump event with a leap of 11.93m (39’ 1-3/4”). Canada’s Asia Philips won the gold medal with a leap of 13.12m (43’ 0-1/2”).

Calea Jackson settled for seventh place in the discus throw out of 10 throwers. She tossed the discus for a distance of 45.10m (147’ 11”). Canada’s Julia Tunks came out on top in that event when she threw the discus for 56.98m (186’ 11”).

Shaunece Miller scored 4,074 points in the heptathlon to finish seventh.

There’s just one more national team to represent The Bahamas in athletics this year – an 11-member squad that will travel to the World Athletics Outdoor Championships, set for August 19-27, at the National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary.