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Monday, July 6, 2009

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BAAA names Junior national teams By KELSIE JOHNSON ~ NG Sports Reporter ~ kelsie@nasguard.com: Head Coach of The Bahamas' 11-member International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) 6th Annual World Youth track and field team, Wayne Smith, commended the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) for quickly naming the team. The team, which was ratified late Sunday afternoon at the Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium, will travel for the championships in Bressanone, Italy in two weeks time. A 13-member team was also named by the BAAA to compete in the Junior Pan Am Games, scheduled for July 31 - August 2 in Trinidad and Tobago. Both teams were named on Sunday, following the BAAA Jr. National Track and Field Championships, which concluded Saturday. However, it is uncertain if the Junior Pan Am Games team will travel, as that meet is still up in the air, pending verification due to the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak that has already forced the cancellation of the first Caribbean Games. As for the World Youth team, even though no athlete named to that squad will compete in field events, Smith said he is confident that this year's team will have a good showing. The team is inclusive of V'Alonee Robinson, Katrina Seymour, Rashan Brown, Katarina Smith, Sparkly Cash, Johnathon Farquharson, Geno Jones, Patrick Bodie, Demetri Knowles, Harold Carter and Glenwood Baillou. Aaron Wilmore and Nejmi Burnside will know their fate by Wednesday, the status of both athletes are pending clarification from physicians. Heading the team is Smith, his assistant will be Greg Cash, Debbie Smith will be the team's chaperone, the team manager is Kermit Taylor and Dr. Keir Miller will be the team's doctor. The Junior Pan Am Games team consists of Krystal Bodie, Katrina Seymour, Rashan Brown, Katarina Smith, Deandra Knowles, Warren Fraser, Johnathon Farquharson, Karlton Rolle, Demetri Knowles, Geno Jones, Nathan Arnett, J'Vente Deveaux and Raymond Higgs. Head Coach of The Bahamas' World Youth team, Smith, said: "I want to commend the BAAA and the executive committee for allowing me to coach the team with the assistance of the team's personnel. Secondly, credit goes to the coaches who were working with the athletes who made the national team, they have done excellent jobs so far. We are looking at the world level so the athletes have to be sharp every time they step on the track. They have to be sharp because there will be a lot of rounds. They will have heats, preliminaries, semifinals and finals. Whatever round they go in they have to be at their peak and their sharpest every time they hit the track. Withstanding injuries, God forbid us having any, we can appreciate that this is an excellent team to be competing for The Bahamas." Robinson and Brown are expected to lead the female side while Jones and Knowles will carry the flag for the men. Young sprinter Robinson is no stranger to the international arena having competed in the World Junior Championships, while Brown competed on the senior level last year. Robinson will compete in the 100 meters (m), 100m hurdles and the long jump. According to Smith, although the IAAF had set qualifying standards, the BAAA used the time or distance from the eighth place finisher from the last competition. Smith believes that if the athletes were able to achieve these times and distances at the BAAA Junior National Championships, they will be able to move on to the finals at the World Youth Championships. "As the head coach, all I am asking the athletes to do is give 100 percent in their events," said Smith. "We will be fielding a relay team but it will be a sprint medley team, in both male and females. There are no qualifiers for field events, persons were close but because this is a world standard only those persons who would have qualified outright would be able to compete. However, we have some persons who had qualified in events and were not on the team because the age restrictions. "Those persons who qualified were like 15 or 16 and it is mandated by the IAAF that athletes must be older than that. I would like to congratulate them even though they weren't named to the team, the fact of them making the qualifying standards was impressive." The first team practice will be held on Monday at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium. The team will leave on July 4. Monday, June 22, 2009