On Sunday, Eldred Henry won bronze medals in the shot put and discus throw during the IX NACAC under-23 Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador, while five of seven Virgin Islands athletes advanced to the finals.
“To be honest, I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in the discus,” said Mr. Henry, who was fourth two years ago in Kamloops, Canada. “I had a foul that would have put me in the lead, but, I was content with keeping in the ring. The difference between last time and this time is more experience, more exposure. It always feels good to win a medal, but it wasn’t the medal that I wanted. At the end of the day, I have a medal and I’m thankful for it.”
On Sunday, he won another bronze in the shot put with a throw of 19.11 metres after placing fifth in 2014 and matched Mr. Crabbe’s two-bronze-medals accomplishment 14 years ago.
“Physically I was ready, just had a little technical flaw with the finish, getting my left foot around more aggressively, so it didn’t result in the pop I needed to get the extra distance,” Mr. Henry said. “After the 19.11, I was looking to go from there and kick it up a notch and probably surpass the 20-metre mark because I was feeling it, like it was there, but technically, I couldn’t get the finish to result in a big throw.”
He add that he was better physically prepared last time as he had a long season and the meet was at the end.
“This season, I had more time to plan out the meets I was going to and have a lot more left in the tank and still have more left for the Rio Olympics,” he said.
Tynelle Gumbs finished fifth in the hammer throw with a best heave of 53.80 metres, while twin sister Trevia’s throw of 46.76 metres was good for eighth place.
“My first four throws and turn were good, but there was no speed,” Tynelle said. “On my fifth throw, my coach Omar [Jones] told me to go at it and be quick. I was literally grating my teeth and I hit 53 and that was my best throw.”
Trevia said she had bad throws and started to over think it.
“I have to do a lot of mental preparation before my next big competition,” she said. “It was a good experience competing against people who were older and better than us. This will give us good experience for the next time.”
Trevia was placed seventh in the Shot Put with a heave of 13.53m.
Taylor Hill advanced to the 100 metre finals after running 12.09 seconds and was seventh in the final in 12.04 seconds.
Khari Herbert was also seventh in the 400 metres after running a season’s best of 46.55 seconds. He advanced with a time of 46.84seconds.
Shaquoy Stephens turned in a non advancing time of 10.95 seconds to finish sixth in the 100-metre prelims. He finished fifth in the 200-metre semis in 22.12 seconds, but didn’t advance.
Jonel Lacey missed the last qualifying spot in the 400 metres after running 55.62 seconds.