​Noemi Theodore of Phoenix, Abilene Wildcats’ Kayla Charles, and her namesake Zada Charles have booked spots in the Carifta Track and Field Championships, carded for the Kirani James Athletic Stadium in Grenada, after Sunday’s final-day action of the National Association of Athletic Administration of T&T (NAAATT) Carifta Games Trials at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain.

​The trio, in pursuit of a time of 24.35 seconds to seal places in the Under-20 Girls’ 200-metre dash, executed well with 0.5 wind assistance to their aid. At the end, Theodore stopped the clock at 23.66 seconds for the top spot. Charles (Kayla and Zada) stormed home in 23.90 and 24.20 seconds, respectively, for positions second and third.

​However, the boys’ equivalent saw only one runner rising to the challenge. Trevaughn Stewart was the lone runner to better the asking 21.25 seconds for the games in the land of spice. The Burnley Athletic Club’s athlete cantered to 21.17 seconds, while all the other runners fell short.

​The younger U-17 division runners also faced challenges meeting the requirements set out by Carifta. In the U-17 boys’ 200-metre race, which featured eight participants, only Dario Tavernier bettered the 22.03-second asking time. The Burnley sprinter, despite a negative -1.6 wind, still powered past the finish line in 21.47.

In the girls’ U-17 200m dash, Eden Chee-Wah (Memphis Pioneers) and Jael Peters (Burnley) achieved the standard with times of 23.73 and 24.47, respectively, both bettering the 24.60 mark.

​Meanwhile, Nyla Kerr of Pace and Performance Athletic Club was a cut above the rest in the girls’ U-17 800 metre event. Though being in a field of eight runners, Kerr appeared amazingly focused to stop the clock at 2:17.87 to book a ticket for Grenada in a month’s time, while her closest challenger, Aaliyah Griffith, came home a distance behind her in a time of 2:30.52.

​In the boys’ two-lap race for U-20s, the pair of Ki Alexander Reid and Darion Whiteman delivered the goods. Alexander of Tobago Select Club produced a time of 1:52.83 in pursuit of a 1:53.02 to narrowly make it home. Whiteman, who was second in the race, also eased his way in at 1:52.97.

​In the field, Jelany Chinyelu released the iron ball a distance of 16.94 metres for the top spot in the boys’ U-20 shot put. He was the lone thrower to secure a Carifta spot, which required a distance of 15.65m. Second-place Jelani Stewart fell agonisingly short of the distance at 14.16m.

​Also in the boys’ U-17 javelin throw, only Tannon Niemeyer made the distance, as he released the spear rod 52.17m for his berth at the Carifta. He had to better a distance of 51.56m.

​Other athletes securing their spots included Xiah Tobias (Zenith) in the girls’ U-17 long jump with a leap of 5.54m, surpassing the 5.48m standard. In the girls’ U-17 400m hurdles, La Queen Welch of Queen’s Royal College (QRC) Athletic club clocked 1:03.72 to beat the 1:05.29 requirement.

​Furthermore, Aniqah Bailey (Pace And Per) qualified in the girls’ 3,000m Open, finishing in 10:39.09 to beat the 10:42.41 standard. In the boys’ U-20 5,000m run, both Isaiah Alder (Cougars) and Jeremy Samaroo (RJRT) made the cut with times of 16:11.00 and 16:12.00, respectively, both under the 16:13.27 limit.