Tuesday July 21st, Toronto, Canada– Trinidad and Tobago’s medal hunt on the track got off to a blazing start with Keston Bledman, Semoy Hackett and Kelly Ann Baptiste advancing to the semi finals of the 100m sprint event.
Bledman won his heat comfortably in 9.95 saying, “It was a good race. The wind was nice; the atmosphere was nice so it feels good. I’m just coming here and trying to execute one step at a time.” There was a bit of drama for his compatriot Marcus Duncan who faced the starter in the previous heat. There appeared to be an echo on the gun 40m into the race, which caused two of the runners to stop. Duncan slowed down and then was forced to play catch up. The race was eventually recalled, but Duncan didn’t seem to have anything left in the tank. He eventually finished 7th in a time of 10.52 and didn’t advance.
On the women’s side, Kelly-Ann Baptiste and Semoy Hackett both qualified for the semi finals of the women’s 100m. Baptiste won her heat in 11.07 and said, “the aim was to qualify as easy as possible and I think I did that.” Hackett her roommate for this year’s Pan Am games ran a season’s best of 11.17 to advance to the next round.
In the quarter mile event, Sparkle McKnight won the first 400m hurdles heat in a season’s best time time of 56.56. Following the race she said, “It felt good, the wind was strong but I just wanted to win my heat and make it to the finals. I feel good about making the finals so I’m out to contend for a medal and do my best.” Her compatriot Joseanne Lucas finished seventh with an uncharacteristically slow time of 1:00:30 and did not advance. Of her performance Lucas said, "I'm disappointed in the run. The race doesn't truly reflect my condition for the year. I'll just move on to the next one."
Triple Jumper Ayanna Alexander finished 8th in the women’s triple jump finals. Her furthest distance was 13.83. Over in the women’s 800m semfinal, Alena Brooks finished 5th in time of 2:07:84 and did not advance.
In field hockey, the men’s team lost 3-0 to Canada. The Men’s football team took an early lead in their final match versus Mexico, but could not hold on and went on to lose the game 4-2.
Track and field action continues tomorrow with the men’s 400m, semi-finals and finals for the 100m men and women, and the 400m hurdles final.