Sports
Roneil Walcott
TRACK athletes normally steal the spotlight at athletic meets, but on January 24, Mercury’s Jafari Edwards and Burnley Athletic Club’s Peyton Winter were among those who grabbed the attention at the Wright Foundation’s Power in the Field Classic at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
Both Edwards and Winter showed their dominance by winning multiple age group events, while jumper Keneisha Shelbourne was also in good rhythm as the 2025 Carifta gold medallist cruised to a victory in the women’s long jump and later competed uncontested in the women’s triple jump.
In a field of ten in the boys’ under-17 long jump, Edwards’ first leap of 6.41 metres turned out to be golden as the Mercury athlete just saw off a late charge from Memphis Pioneers’ Zayne Martin, who achieved a distance of 6.37m on his final jump to grab second. Edwards wasn’t done there as he returned in the boys’ under-17 high jump to take top honours with a height of 1.75m. In the five-man field, Kaizen Panthers athlete Sebastian McKenna was the only other participant to clear the bar as he placed second with a height of 1.65m.
Winter has been a rising star in field events in the last few years, and showed her supremacy with wins in the girls’ under-20 shot put, javelin, and discus events. In the shot put, Winter got the better of newly-minted Female Multi-event Athlete of the Year winner Tenique Vincent with a throw of 12.91m. Concorde’s Vincent was second with a throw of 10.10m, with Sofia Quamina third with a distance of 7.96m.
It was a closer run thing for Winter in the javelin event, but her opening throw of 28.85m was just enough to hold off Lions Athletic Club’s JeNiece Alleyne, who hurled a distance of 28.23m on her third attempt. In the discus, D’Abadie Progressive Athletic Club’s Quamina again had to settle for a spot behind Winter who won the event by throwing a distance of 35.73m on her third effort. Quamina’s second-place effort was measured at 28.49m.
Vincent may have been no match for Winter in the shot put, but she was more fluent in the girls’ under-20 high jump when she cleared the bar at 1.65m to take first place. Cougar Athletic Club’s Kezia Joy Husbands was second with a height of 1.50m, with Kaori Robley third with her 1.45m height.
Meanwhile, Vincent’s twin brother, Tyrique Vincent, stretched his legs to good effect over the long jump pit with a distance of 7.07m to win ahead of Kaizen Panthers’ Imanni Matthew (6.71m) and Pace and Performance Factory’s 6.33m in the boys’ under-20 long jump. Tyrique was named the Male Multi-event Athlete of the Year at the National Association of Athletics Administration awards on January 3.
Kaizen Panthers’ Robley also tasted success when she leaped a distance of 5.21m to win the girls’ under-20 long jump, with QRC Athletic Club’s La Queen Welch second in 4.93m. There was no moving Welch from her perch in the girls’ under-17 high jump as she soared to a comfortable win with a height of 1.64m. Toco Tafac’s Destiny Silverthorn was a distant second with a 1.35m height.
Also in winner’s row was Ascend Athletic Club’s Daryan Boyce, who got the better of his clubmate Nykel Gomez in a tight boys’ under-20 discus battle. Boyce achieved a distance of 44.45m, with Gomez’s throw being measured at 42.16m. Burnley’s Jelany Chinyelu got the scalps of both Gomez and Tyrique in the boys’ under-20 shot put, with Martin (boys’ under-17 triple jump), Akeya Gonzales (girls’ under-17 discus), Ryana Regis (girls’ under-17 javelin), and Yanique Stewart (girls’ under-17 long jump) also among those who occupied top podium places at the classic.
