T&T’s Eden Chee Wah copped gold in the Under-18 girls’ 200 metres final when the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) U-18 and U-23 Athletics Championships ended at the Una Nueva Historia Sports Complex Stadium in Tlaxcala, Mexico, Sunday.
Chee Wah of Memphis Pioneers topped the field with a time of 23.10 seconds, with another T&T entrant, Jael Peters (Burnley), taking the bronze in 23.71, while Antigua and Barbuda’s Tyra Tiara Fenton, the Carifta U-17 girls 100m and 200m winner, got silver in 23.26.
The winning time by Chee Wah was quicker than the NACAC record of 23.53; however, with a wind reading of +6.0m/s above the legal limit of 2.0m/s, her clocking will not be considered a record.
The medal was the second for Chee Wah at the Championships after she was second in the 400m final on Saturday in 52.48, a national U-18 and U-20 record.
In the U-23 men’s 200m final, Aaron Charles added a silver medal for T&T when he clocked 20.19, a new personal best, but, just shy of Barbadian Jayden Green, who won in 20.17, with Puerto Rican Adrian Canales third in 20.39.
However, in the U-18 boys 200m final, the T&T duo of Kamari Diaz (21.55) and J’Quan Douglas (22.28) finished down the field in the sixth and seventh positions, respectively.
Reigning Carifta U-17 girls 1,500m champion Nyla Kerr completed the two-lap (800m) U-18 girls’ run in two minutes and 10.68 seconds, a new personal best, to finish behind Jamaican Alikay Reynolds, who won in 2:09.67, with Mexico’s Cintia Nayeli Gomez securing the bronze in 2:11.45.
It was the second medal in two days for Kerr of San Juan South Secondary after she got bronze in 1,500m on Saturday.
Keneisha Shelbourne grabbed a silver medal in the U-23 women’s triple jump final after she bounded out to a best of 13.18m in her first attempt to lie in second spot. Mexico’s Paola Josselyn Del Real won the competition with 13.29m, her second attempt on the day, while Jamaican Jade-Ann Dawkins earned the bronze medal with a distance of 13.04m.
The medal was the third for Shelbourne at the NACAC Championships after the 2025 Carifta U-20 triple jump champion won silver in the U-18 girls high jump and bronze in the U-18 girls 4x400m in 2023.
Michal Paul finished down the field in the U-18 boys long jump final after the reigning Carifta U-17 long jump champion could only muster 4.94m in his first and only effort.
The T&T U-18 girls’ and boys’ 4x400m relay quartets earned silver medals on the third and final day.
The quartet of Chee Wah, Kerr, La Queen Welch and Soleil Caruth (Concorde) combined to run 3:44.72 to take the runners-up spot behind Jamaica (3:37.04) and ahead of Mexico (3:45.15).
And the boys foursome, which featured the Lewis twins, Khordae and Khordel, Brion Scott and Christopher Sammy, combined for a time of 3:13.35 for the silver medal. Jamaica also won gold in 3:08.79, with Mexico third in 3:13.65.
Tenique Vincent was third in the women’s U-23 heptathlon with a tally of 4,878 points after the completion of the seven disciplines.
Vincent, the 2025/2026 Carifta Open girls’ heptathlon gold medallist, led the standings after the first four events on Saturday (100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m) with 3,313 points.
However, on the second day, she could not hold on to the top spot despite recording the best mark in the long jump (5.55/715 points) and was second in the javelin (32.42/523). She then slipped down the standings and trailed behind in the final event, the 800m (3:04.18/327). Host athlete Valeria Gutierrez prevailed with 4,925, with Ana Isabela Gonzalez of El Salvador taking the silver medal with 4,895.
In the U-18 girls’ heptathlon, Daija Reid (4,286 points) and La Queen Welch (4,256) were fourth and fifth, respectively, after they stood in the first and third positions at the end of the first day of competition.
T&T’s Christopher Sammy missed out on a medal in the U-18 boys’ 800m after he was fourth across the finish line in 1:54.50 to miss out on a medal, while countryman Brian Scott was sixth in 1:57.38.
