Jamaica secured 24 medals to lead all Caribbean nations at the 2022 NACAC Open Championships which concluded on Sunday in Freeport, Bahamas.
Entering Sunday’s final day with 12 medals, the Jamaicans doubled their tally to finish second overall on the medal table, trailing the USA who finished with 69.
Those 24 medals were split into six golds, nine silvers and nine bronzes. Cuba was the next best placed Caribbean country with six medals including two golds, one silver and three bronzes.
Jamaica’s final day was highlighted by Andrew Hudson’s personal best 19.87 to win the 200m.
Hosts The Bahamas was next with one gold, two silvers and four bronzes for seven medals overall. That gold medal came from hometown hero Shaunae Miller-Uibo who ran 49.40 to win the 400m.
Also registering gold medals were The British Virgin Islands through Kyron McMaster’s brilliant season’s best 47.34 in the 400m hurdles and Dominica through Thea LaFond's 14.49m in the triple jump.
Trinidad & Tobago got silvers in the men’s 4x100m and men’s javelin through Keshorn Walcott
Bermuda (one silver), St Vincent & The Grenadines (one silver), Barbados (one silver), Antigua & Barbuda (one bronze) and Puerto Rico (one bronze) also registered medals.
Dominica’s Thea LaFond is the 2022 women’s triple jump champion after she jumped 14.49m on her final jump to win the event on the final day of the NACAC Senior Championships in The Bahamas on Sunday.
Andrew Hudson unleashed his frustrations at missing out on the World Championships in July at the 2022 NACAC Championships in the Bahamas on Sunday winning the 200m final in a lifetime best and new meet record of 19.87.
In doing so, the Jamaican 200m champion, won his very first medal for Jamaica in an international competition.
Hudson, the Texas Tech alum whose transfer of allegiance from the United States did not take effect until July 28, causing him to miss representing Jamaica at the World Championships in Oregon, took command of the race from the gun to clock a massive personal best.
In his wake was the America duo of Kyree King, who ran 20.00 for the silver medal and Josephus Lyles, the brother of world 200m champion, Noah Lyles, who clocked 20.18 for the bronze medal.
The USA took the women’s race as Brittany Brown sped to 22.34 for the gold medal ahead of Tynia Gaither of the Bahamas and A’Keyla Mitchell of the USA who ran 22.53 for the bronze medal.
Kyron McMaster and Shian Salmon took the respective 400m hurdles titles on the final day of the NACAC Championships in The Bahamas on Sunday.
Early challenges faced by the Jamaican contingent when they arrived in the Bahamas week, have not prevented the 39-member team from racking up medals at the 2022 NACAC Open Championships.
Distance runner Adelle Tracey was delighted to celebrate her first medal for Jamaica, a bronze, in the women’s 800m, at the 2022 NACAC Championships in the Bahamas on Saturday.
The athlete, who switched allegiance from Great Britain to Jamaica in June, made her debut at the IAAF World Championships but was unable to take part in the Commonwealth Games earlier this month due to protocols surrounding the international transfer.
The athlete was, however, able to return to the track for the NACAC Games where she finished third in the women’s 800m behind the US pair of Ajee and Allie Wilson. Ajee finished just ahead of her compatriot Allie in a photo finish 1:58.47 to 1:58.48.
The Jamaican finished third in 1:59.54 only her second time under 2 minutes, behind her personal best, which came at the IAAF World Championship in Eugene, Oregon in July. Tracey was delighted with the result and performance.
“Ajee set a really tough pace from the get-go, that was great for me because I actually ran my second fastest time. It was very hot today, it’s super windy. I just made it hard but there is a lot of travel in my legs,” Tracey said after the race.
“I was kind of hoping it would have been a bit more tactical but that was a really honest race and there are some really fast girls in there so I’m really happy with it,” she added.
The distance runner was also delighted to have made the trip.
"It feels like a really special place and this is my first medal as a Jamaican athlete as well, so, I really love the Bahamas.”
The Jamaicans also picked up other medals on the night when Olympic bronze medalist Megan Tapper claimed silver in the women’s 100m hurdles and another bronze for Orlando Bennett in the men’s 110m hurdles.
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson easily justified her status as a heavy favourite for the women’s 100m title after dominating the event at the 2022 NACAC Championships, in Grand Bahama, the Bahamas on Saturday.
The 200m World Champion and 100m silver medallist has clocked some blistering times over both distances this season. The trend continued in Saturday’s final as she blasted out of the blocks and quickly put away the competition before stopping the clock at 10.83.
The United States Celera Barnes was second in 11.10 with another Jamaican Natasha Morrison third in 11.11. The race was run in a -0.1 headwind.
In the men’s equivalent, Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake also put in a dominant performance as he was the only athlete in the field to crack the 10-second barrier. Blake led the pack to the line in 9.98, comfortably ahead of the United State’s Kyree King who was second in 10.08, and his compatriot Brandon Charles who was third in 10.12.
Elsewhere, the Jamaicans took the runner-up spot behind the United States in the 4x400m mixed relays. The event was won by the United States in 3:12.05, with the Jamaicans second in 3:14.08.
Earlier, Adelle Tracey won her first ever medal for Jamaica when she finished third in the 800m in 1:59.54. The USA’s Ajee Wilson won the gold medal in a keen battle with teammate Allie Wilson. Ajee won by 0.01 seconds clocking 1:58.47 to Allie’s 1:58.48.
Jamaica won two more medals in the sprint hurdles.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper ran 12.68 for silver in the 100m hurdles that the USA’s Alaysha Johnson won in 12.62. Hometown girl Devynne Charlton ran 12.71 for the bronze medal.
In the 110m hurdles, Orlando Bennett ran a season-best 13.18 to win the bronze medal.
The USA’s Freddie Crittenden won in a fast 13.00 while holding off compatriot Jamal Britt, who finished in 13.08.
Bahamas' Shaunae Miller-Uibo put on a show for her hometown fans with a dominant display to win the women’s 400m on day 2 of the NACAC Athletics Championships, in Grand Bahama, on Saturday.
The Olympic and World Champion left very little to doubt as she left the blocks and quickly covered the field by the top of the straight.
World championship bronze medalist Sada Williams of Barbados looked to battle back against Miller-Uibo down the stretch but the Bahamian had enough to pull a few metres clear by the finish line.
Miller-Uibo, who has lost just once in 8 races over the distance this season, stopped the clock in 49.40, her fourth fastest time of the season. Williams finished second in 49.86, while Jamaica’s Stephenie-Ann Mcpherson was third in 50.36.
In the men’s equivalent, Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor recorded his fastest time over the distance this season after outbattling his opponents down the stretch to stop the clock at 44.63, only his second time below 45 seconds this season. Another Jamaican Nathon Allen was second in 45.04 with the United States’ Bryce Deadmon third in 45.06.
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