St. Kitts and Nevis

2012 was a successful , if tumultuous year for athletics in the Federation. The veteran Kim Collins, selected for his fifth Olympic Games had run consistently well and must have been thought of as a potential finalist, given his “bigmeet” history. Unfortunately something went terribly wrong in London and he failed to appear for his 100 metre heat and was subsequently withdrawn from the Games.

St Kitts and Nevis however is blessed with a cadre of sprinters who collectively are the best in the OECS and the impact of Collins’ absence was less than it might have been. Jason Rogers had been a medalist or finalist at virtually every one of his regional and international competitions as a junior, and at the NACACUnder-23 Championships in Mexico he came good, winning the 100 in 10.06 seconds.

Antoine Adams moved into international class in 2012 as well, winning his National Championships in the 100(10.10 seconds) and 200 (20.43). He advanced to the semi-final round of both sprints in London.

B. J. Lawrence had enjoyed a breakout year in 20111 and started well in 2012 with a win at the NAIA Indoor Championships over 60 metres. He ran season’s bests of 10.12 and 20.62 during the pre-Olympic period but competed sparingly and only ran the relay in London.

Lestrod Roland was the revelation of 2012. A useful junior, who had often finished just outside the medals in regional meets, he lowered his bests to 10.30 and 20.67 at the National Championships and joined Rogers, Adams and Lawrence in lowering the national x100 metre relay record to 38.41 seconds in London, although they failed on this occasion to reach the final of the event.

Tameka Williams was her country’s shining star in the sprints for much of the season but was excluded from the team immediately after the Opening Ceremony of the London Games. The circumstances remain unclear but hopefully the matter will be resolved and she will continue her career, which blossomed in 2012. She ran legal times under 11.30 on three occasions and also broke the 23 second barrier in the 200 thrice. Her national record of 22.45 is the best ever by an OECS athlete and her 11.18 clocking in the 100, also a national record, ranks her third all-time among OECS athletes.

Among the juniors the Nevisian javelin thrower Adrian Williams won a bronze medal at the Carifta Games while 16 year old Renika Daniel, also from Nevis, did so at the CAC Junior Championships.

St. Lucia

As has been the case in recent years St. Lucia’s top performer in 2012 was a high jumper. However it was not CAC champion Levern Spencer or World Championships finalist Darvin Edward who stood out, but rather 18 year old Jeanelle Scheper. After placing third at Carifta she went on to win the CAC Junior under-20 competition and placed 8th at the World Juniors. Her best mark of 1.85 m moves her up to third among OECS jumpers. Spencer did not really have a bad year but never looked like the woman who was once a finalist at the World Championships.

Edwards competed infrequently and was quite inconsistent when he did, not coming close to his achievements of the previous year.
St. Lucia’s top home-based athlete was once again Albert Reynolds. The javelin thrower won his event at the OECS Invitational and also established a new national record of 72.86m at a home meet in Vieux Fort.

Pole vaulter Rick Valcin improved in the pole vault to 4.90m, a mark that is reasonably competitive at the regional level.

Heptathlete Makeba Alcide set an indoor national record in the pentathlon but outdoors did not continue the progress shown a year earlier.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Another of the sub-region’s countries with little to cheer about in 2012.

The versatile thrower Adonson Shallow had apparently called it a day; Pamenos Ballantyne competed in no Championship road races at a full regional level and veteran sprinters Natasha Mayers and Kineke Alexander were well off their bests. 

Courtney Williams showed some promise in the 100 but still has work to do in order to make an impact regionally.

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