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La’Nica Locker (Observer)
The 2024 NJCAA 200m Indoor Champion – La’nica Locker – has become the latest athlete from Antigua and Barbuda to qualify for the 2025 Carifta Games in Trinidad and Tobago.
The 2024 Junior Sportswoman of the year, competing at the UAB Green and Gold Invite in Birmingham, Alabama, ran a blistering 23.96 for second place overallover the weekend.
With this time, she now ranks #4 in the nation for Junior colleges.
It also guaranteed her a spot in the 200m Carifta race which is slated for the Easter weekend.
Locker also ran 7.56 in the 60m for 4th place.
The Ottos Comprehensive School alumni now joins six other athletes from the country.
Dwayne Flemming was the first to do so back in mid-January.
Also, that month, five others would qualify for the April 19-21 games at the Antigua Barbuda Athletic Association (ABAA) 2nd Development Meet at YASCO.
First to qualify on the day was Ranique Richards of the Princess Margaret School, who threw a distance of 12.47m to surpass the 11.90m Carifta Games standard in the U17 girls shot put.
This will be Ranique’s first Carifta Games.
Looking forward to her second is Zonique Charles of the Sir Novelle Richards Academy who threw a distance of 44.14m in the female U17 Javelin to surpass the 35m Carifta standard. Zonique and Ranique are a part of Edus Sports, which is a Ministry of Sports Athletics Group.
No stranger to the Carifta circuit and looking forward to representing Antigua and Barbuda for the 4th consecutive time and what will be her final Games, is 2024 100m women Bronze medalist Geolyna Dowdye of PMS and PSE Track Club who qualified in both the 100m and 200m in times of 11.56sec and 23.50secs, well under the 11.75 and 24.20sec Carifta standard.
The double bronze medalist in the girls u17 200m and 400m from 2024, Tyra Fenton (St Anthony Secondary and Roots Athletics Club) also booked her spot in the same events this year.
Tyra registered 24.17sec (24.80) in the 200m and 57.35sec (58.00) in the 400m to book her ticket.
Rounding out an exciting day of sprinting was the only Male qualifier of the day.
Our 2024 200m National Champion, Junior Sportsman of the year, NACAC double gold medalist and no stranger to Carifta Kasiya Daley (Princess Margaret School and PSE Track Club) who registered an astonishing 20.92sec in the u20 Boys 200m to book his ticket to what will be his 3rd Carifta Games.
Kasiya’s time was well under the 21.50sec qualifying time.
… and we still don’t have proper change room facilities or bathroom’s at Yasco as yet. School sports are in session right now.