Junior athletes bid for Carifta places

THE Trinidad and Tobago team for the 2004 CARIFTA Track and Field Champion-ships in Bermuda, scheduled from April 10-12, will be determined after the two-day trials is concluded at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. The trials will begin at 9 am today and continue tomorrow with over 200 of Trinidad and Tobago’s top junior athletes participating in all disciplines. As was the case last year, the Girls’ Under-20 100-metre final will be the most eagerly anticipated race with 2003 CARIFTA bronze medallist Wanda Hutson of Memphis matching strides with the lanky Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Zenith Tobago.

CARIFTA Under-17 800m champ Jamal James of Phoenix is favoured to win the two-lap race and book a spot on the national squad while the dreadlocked Pilar McShine, a double medallist in last year’s CARIFTA Games in Trinidad, is certain to win the girls Under-17 800m and 1500m. The Bishop Anstey pair of Rhonda Wat-kins, who took gold in the long jump and high jump in last year’s edition, and heptathlete Carleigh Bacchus, are almost certain to dominate the field events.