Former Holmwood Technical High track star and Jamaica representative, Anneisha McLaughlin-Whilby, believes the hectic schedule she managed during her time competing at the country’s annual boys and girls high school championships contributed heavily to an injury-plagued and shortened senior career.
McLaughlin's achievements as a high school athlete are the stuff of legend. The sprinter earned some 19 gold medals and set records that stood for many years after she hung up her spikes. In fact, her Class Three 400m record of 52.52 seconds, set in 2001, remains on the record books to this day.
Despite admitting that, at the time, she did not consider it to be an issue, she now believes her high school success may have come at a steep cost.
“To an extent it was, with the injuries, talking about that 200m (loss to Simone Facey) in 2004, I think I suffered my first major injury that year, so I went to Champs not fit,” McLaughlin-Whilby told SportsMax.tv’s The Commentators podcast.
“Since then, I had recurring injuries, especially with my hamstring, so, I think all of that competition over the five years in the high school system had an impact on me when I got to the professional level,” she added.
Changes to the high school competition’s rules, limiting athletes to two relays and two individual events, would have meant that McLaughlin-Wilby would not have been able to take part in as many races per year as she did during her time at the championships.
As a professional, her best achievements included a fifth-place finish, in the 200m final, at the 2009 World Championships and helping Jamaica to a silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games, with strong performances in the heats and final of the 4x400m relays.
A ray of sunshine: Caribbean players light up Round six of Suncorp Super Netball League
The Suncorp Super Netball league has no shortage of international superstars, but the clash between the West Coast Fever and Adelaide Thunderbirds well and truly showcased the Jamaican excellence the competition hosts.
With six Jamaican Sunshine Girls split evenly between the two teams, the battle was fierce and full of flair, as it eventually ended 57-56 in favour of the Fever.
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard is no easybeat, and with the likes of Shanice Beckford serving her the ball on a silver platter, the Fever had no issue with scoring.
However, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson would not let it all go the Fever’s way, picking off deflections left, right and centre.
At the other end, Romelda Aiken-George and Kadie-Ann Dehaney went head-to-head in another enormous battle, which well and truly highlighted the impressive agility and elevation of the Jamaican superstars.
All close friends off the court, the six players united after the match for a brilliant Jamaican team moment, sharing a dance for the remaining crowd.
Shimona Jok (left) was one of many high-performing Jamaicans this week.
Elsewhere, Jamaican Shimona Jok won the player of the match award for her impressive 50-goal game in the Maverick’s 69-62 win against the Firebirds, while another Jamaican Jodi-Ann Ward worked in overdrive in the Sydney derby. However, her GIANTS team went down 52-76 to New South Wales Swift, led by Trinidad and Tobago’s Samantha Wallace-Joseph.
After another week of intense battles, it comes as no surprise that Fowler-Nembhard remains atop the Nissan Net Points leaderboard with 690.5 points to her name, with Sterling-Humphrey (539.5 points) fourth on that list.
With 355 goals to her name from 363 attempts, Fowler-Nembhard has scored over 100 goals more than Donnell Wallam (253 goals from 297 attempts), who sits second on both the goals and attempts leaderboard, while Aiken-George (214 goals from 245 attempts) occupies fourth on the attempts chart and fifth on the goals side.
Trinidad and Tobago's Samantha Wallace-Joseph (right) did some damage for NSW Swifts.
On the flip side, Aiken-George (30) leads the offensive rebound stats, with Fowler-Nembhard (16) in fifth. Fever’s Fran Williams (13) head the defensive rebound standing.
Sterling-Humphrey leads the pack for deflections with 43, while Wilson (32 deflections) is in fourth position, but both Jamaicans are locked on 20 apiece in first and second on the intercept leaderboard.
Beckford (124) sit fourth for centre pass receives, as Liz Watson (155) heads that chart, along with the goal assists chart where she has 154.
Meanwhile, Helen Housby continues to reign supreme on the Suncorp Super Shot with 39 to her name for the season from 55 attempts, ahead of Sophie Dwyer (31 from 48).
Next time I touch the 100m: Kerley has sights set on Bolt’s world record
2022 World 100m champion Fred Kerley has his sights set on Usain Bolt’s 15-year-old 100m World Record.
In fact, the 29-year-old says that the next time he does the event, he will become the fastest man ever.
“World record next time I touch the 100m,” Kerley said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Usain Bolt’s mark stands at an incredible 9.58 done to win his maiden World Championship gold medal at the Berlin World Championships on August 16, 2009.
Bolt is the only man to ever run faster than 9.60 with Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake the only other men to run sub 9.70.
Gay and Blake both have a personal best of 9.69 to be joint-second on the all-time list.
Kerley, one of the only athletes ever to go sub-10 in the 100m, sub-20 in the 200m and sub-44 in the 400m, has a personal best of 9.76 done at the World Championships in 2022 in Eugene where he went on to claim 100m gold.
His time puts him in a three-way tie for sixth all-time alongside countrymen Christian Coleman and Trayvon Bromell.
Asafa Powell (9.72), Justin Gatlin (9.74) and Ferdinand Omanyala (9.77) make up the top ten.
This season, Kerley has competed four times in the 100m. He opened his season with a win at the Hurricane Invitational on March 16 in Coral Gables, Florida with 10.03 and followed that up at the same venue on April 6 in the Hurricane Alumni Invitational with 10.11 to also come out on top.
Kerley then competed at the season’s first two Diamond League events in Xiamen and Suzhou on April 20 and 27, respectively. He first ran 10.17 to finish second in Xiamen before running 10.11 for third in Suzhou.
He most recently competed at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational on May 11 where he ran 20.17 to finish second in the men’s 200m.
JPL finalists Mount Pleasant, Cavalier join teams from T&T, Dom Rep as early qualifiers for Concacaf Caribbean Cup
Reigning Jamaica Premier League champions Mount Pleasant FA and Cavalier FC have booked spots in this year’s Concacaf Caribbean Cup where they will again challenge for a berth in next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup.
By virtue of setting up a repeat of last year’s final, Mount Pleasant, hunting their second local top-flight title, and Cavalier, seeking redemption from last season’s defeat, joined three other clubs from Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago as early confirmations.
This will be Mount Pleasant’s debut in the Caribbean Cup and first appearance in a Concacaf tournament, while Cavalier makes a return after an unbeaten run in the group stage, before finishing as runner-up to Suriname’s Robinhood FC. It also and earned them a debut appearance in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
From Dominican Republic, Cibao FC, will make its second appearance in the Caribbean Cup as the 2023 league champion from the Dominican Republic. Cibao has become a regular to Concacaf competitions, appearing in the 2018 Champions League and the 2020 and 2022 Concacaf League.
Based in Santiago de los Caballeros, Cibao became the first team in the history of the Dominican Republic to secure an official international title when they won the 2017 Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship.
Meanwhile, Moca FC, also out of Dominican Republic, returns for a second crack at the Caribbean Cup due to their standing in the 2023 season. Moca reached the semifinals in the previous edition and won the third-place match to qualify for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup, making its debut earlier this year. Gustavo Ascona is the club’s all-time leader with four goals in the competition.
Trinidad and Tobago’s AC Port of Spain will make a second appearance in the Caribbean Cup. The club will be aiming to achieved new milestones by getting their first win in the tournament and, by extension, secure a first Concacaf Champions Cup participation.
The remaining clubs in the annual 10-team tournament –that crowns a Caribbean champion and determine participants from the region for the Concacaf Champions Cup –will be determined as their respective nations wrap up their domestic seasons.
A draw will be held on June 6 to divide the teams into two groups of five.
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