Home|Sports|BAAA names 11-member team for World JuniorsSports
Sheldon LongleySend an emailJuly 21, 2022 111 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Right on the heels of the 18th World Athletics Outdoor Championships comes another global athletics event as the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) continues its trek on a busy summer.
The BAAA has ratified an 11-member team for the World Athletics Under-20 (U20) Championships, also known as the World Junior Championships or World Juniors, which is set for August 2-7 at Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero in Cali, Colombia.
The World Juniors is an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than January 1, 2003), and all members of Team Bahamas have achieved qualifying standards that were in place from the beginning of the season and set by World Athletics.
A total of seven young men and four young women will represent The Bahamas in Cali, Colombia, in this global event.
Named to the team are Antoine Andrews, Zachary Evans, Carlos Brown, Zion Campbell, Keyshawn Strachan, Wanya McCoy and Shimar Bain for the boys; and female athletes Javonya Valcourt, Shatalya Dorsett, Paige Archer and Lacarthea Cooper.
Corrington Maycock is the head coach of the team and he will be assisted by Daron Lightbourne and John Ingraham. The team manager is Laketah Charlton and she will be assisted by Sharon Gardiner who is also the COVID liaison officer. Dr. Alvery Hanna is the team doctor and Terell Major is the team therapist.
The squad will be led by Strachan who is the highest ranked athlete on the team, listed as the number two under-20 javelin thrower in the world on the World Athletics Top Performance list for 2022.
“We have a strong team with very disciplined athletes. My hope is that each and every athlete participates for personal records,” said veteran throws coach Maycock, serving in a head coaching capacity for the first time on a national level.
“All of the athletes have competed at a high level all season, so now it’s time to execute.”
From the athletes entered, Maycock said they have every intention of fielding relay squads, particularly in the 4×100 meters (m) relays. He likes their chances of making it through the rounds and into the final.
“I have really high hopes for them this time around,” said Maycock. “A couple of the members of this team are currently at the world championships in Eugene and some are on Grand Bahama. When the pieces of the puzzle are all together, then we can build a solid and unified team. I expect personal best performances from all of the athletes and some hardware to go with that.”
McCoy and Valcourt are the two members of the team who are at the World Athletics Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA. As Maycock mentioned, others are on Grand Bahama and are scheduled to arrive in New Providence over the weekend.
The team departs for Cali, Colombia, on July 28. Maycock said it’s a business trip for them and they are looking forward to tremendous success.