Reigning First Citizens and T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) Female “Sports Personality of the Year” Michelle-Lee Ahye will open her 2024 outdoor season at the National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA) Track and Field Series No 3 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo Sunday.
Ahye is listed to compete in the women’s 100 and 200 metres. The 2018 Commonwealth Games women’s 100m champion will start in the seventh and final section of the women’s straight sprint.
Ahye represented T&T at the 2024 World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Glasgow, Scotland from March 1-3. The Tranquility Government Secondary School graduate bowed out in the heats of the women’s 60m in Glasgow.
Today, the national 100m/200m record holder is expected to line up against 2024 Carifta Games medallists Symphony Patrick and Tianna Richardson.
Patrick ran the lead-off leg for T&T’s silver medal-winning girls’ Under-20 4x100m team at the Games in Grenada. The Concorde sprinter was also sixth in the girls U-20 100m final. Richardson helped the national girls’ U-17 4x100m outfit to earn bronze. The FAD athlete finished in the eighth spot in the girls’ U-17 100m finals.
Carifta girls U-17 high jump and 4x400m bronze medallist Tenique Vincent (Concorde) will be among the starters in section four while former Carifta medallists Christmarie Maharaj (Burnley) and Ayode Simmonds (Memphis Pioneers) are the ones to watch in section three. Ahye is to return to the track for the 200m and will stride out of section three of six.
Toyko Olympian Kion Benjamin heads the list of entrants in the men’s 100m. Benjamin of Memphis Pioneers, is slated to be in the 11th of 12 100m races along with 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games 100m winner Adell Colthrust (Abilene Wildcats) and 2018 World U-20 4x100m finalist Ako Hislop (Kaizen Panthers).
Benjamin will be going for this third 100m win for the 2024 season after he struck gold at the Second Masters Meet on March 9 and at the Falcon Games on March 23.
Kyle Greaux (Abilene Wildcats), the 2019 World Championships men’s 200m finalist and Carifta boys’ U-17 long jump silver/high jump bronze medallist Tyrique Vincent (Concorde) and Carifta boys’ U-17 4x100m silver medallist Cameron Powell (Phoenix) are all set to be in the line-up.
The women’s high jump will see the clash of Carifta high jump medallist Tenique and girls’ U-20 third-place finisher Kernesha Osbourne (Oasics).
The men’s 400m is set to be the highlight event of the meet with 2022 Commonwealth Games 4x400m medallist Che Lara (Abilene Wildcats) going for his third victory in the event for the season. Lara will run in section five of seven along with 2022 Carifta medallists Cyril Sumner (Memphis Pioneers) and Kaiyin Morris (Abilene Wildcats) and Carifta boys U-20 one lap fourth placer and 4x400m silver-medallist Kyrell Thomas are all gearing up to get to the finish line first. Thomas will be out to top the field following his personal best runs of 47.59 and 47.23 in Grenada.
Another former Carifta medallist Samantha Shukla is among six entrants in the women’s 800m.
Back-to-back Carifta girls U-17 shot put silver medallist Peyton Winter (Burnley), multiple World Masters champion Gwen Smith as well and 2022 girls’ U-17 discus bronze medallist Adrianna Codner (DPAC) will square off in the women’s shot put and discus throws.
National champion Umar Sandy will be seeking to extend his unbeaten run in the men’s discus. Sandy’s UTT Patriots teammate will be aiming to upset him.
The first event of the day, the women’s javelin, is set to get started at 11 am.