Track and field on the junior side is thriving in The Bahamas, as shown with the establishment of two junior national records and the leap of a hurdler to number three in the world, at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Combined Junior and Senior National Track and Field Championships, and Invitational, over the weekend.
On Wednesday, the BAAA ratified its teams that will represent the country at two major international meets this summer.
A 50-member team will compete for The Bahamas at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Under-18 (U18) and Under-23 (U23) Championships, and a 17-member team will represent The Bahamas at the 21st World Athletics Under-20 (U20) Championships.
The former will be held over the Independence Day holiday weekend, July 10-12, at the Sport Complex Una Nueva Historia in Apizaco, Tlaxcala, Mexico, and the latter will run from August 5-9, at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
“We thought that coming out of nationals we would be able to produce some very strong teams based on the exceptional performaces that we produced,” said BAAA President Drumeco Archer. “We saw the creation of two junior national records in what we got from Zion Davis and Kei-Mahri Hanna, and there were other outstanding performances as well, and that should set us up for some exciting meets this summer. In some of the events, we are ranked very high. We like what we see, and we’re looking forward to what we expect will be some great performances.”
Davis and Hanna, in particular, produced junior national records in their events at the nationals over the weekend. Davis won the under-20 boys 400 meters (m) at the nationals in 45.64 seconds, erasing the junior national record of 45.81 seconds that was done by Wendell Miller in 2021. That time tied him for number 21 globally on the World’s Top Performance List for junior athletes for 2026.
Hanna ran a new junior national record of 56.78 seconds in the under-20 girls 400m hurdles, erasing the time of 57.24 seconds that was set by Katrina Seymour in 2011. Hanna’s time lists her as number six in the world in the under-20 girls 400m hurdles, for 2026.
Both athletes are on the world juniors team.
Named to the NACAC U18 and U23 team for The Bahamas are: under 18 girls — Jazae Johnson (100m, long jump), Keyezra Thomas (400m), J’Kaiyah Rolle (long jump), Cailyn Smith (triple jump), Kiarra Williams (high jump), Ahnae Smith (shot put, discus), Tejha Thompson (discus), Taree Forbes (4x100m), Rhayanna Saunders (4x100m), Brianna Bootle (4x100m, 4x400m), Nevaeh Mackey (4x400m) and Denika Gittens (4x400m); under 18 boys — Eagan Neely (200m), Aiden Musgrove (200m), Va’Ron Pinder (400m), Zion Bradford (400m), Jahcario Wilson (110m hurdles), Kyden Thurston (3,000m), Devonte Crowl (3,000m), Jenico Gibson (triple jump), Nathan Walker (triple jump), Deante Joseph (high jump), Keyshawn Dean (high jump), Akheel Williams (javelin), Carmeljo Woodside (shot put, discus), Sherman Ferguson (shot put), David Douglas (discus), Kendal Turner (hammer), Tristan Lockhart (4x100m), Terrin Beckles (4x100m), Rohman Rolle (4x100m), Jonathan Higgs (4x400m) and Cordell Munroe (4x400m); under-23 women — Shatalya Dorsett (100m, 200m), Ezthia Maycock (400m hurdles), Koi Adderley (long jump), Taysha Stubbs (javelin), and Kamera Strachan (javelin); under-23 men — Zion Campbell (100m), Adam Musgrove (200m), Javano Bridgewater (400m), Andrew Styles (400m), Tajh Brown (110m hurdles), Antone Smith (triple jump), Brenden Vanderpool (pole vault), Tyler Cash (pole vault), Samalie Farrington (4x100m), Everette Fraser (4x100m), Zion Shepherd (4x400m) and Sonycko Ilet (4x400m).
The World U20 team members are: girls — Saige Demeritte (200m), Keyezra Thomas (400m), Alexis Roberts (400m), Kei-Mahri Hanna (400m hurdles) and Taysha Stubbs (javelin); boys — Everette Fraser (100m), Eagan Neely (200m), Zion Davis (400m), Javano Bridgewater (400m), Jahcario Wilson (110m hurdles), Tieano Ferguson (400m hurdles), Carlin Archer (long jump), Justin Hanna (high jump), Kenny Moxey Jr. (decathlon), Ishmael Rolle (4x100m), Zion Shepherd (4x400m) and Sonycko Ilet (4x400m).
The head coach of the NACAC U18 and U23 team is John Ingraham out of Freeport, Grand Bahama, and he will be assisted by Everette Fraser, Corrington Maycock, Jamieson Pratt, and Theron Murray. The team manager is Laura Pratt-Charlton, and she will be assisted by Myriam Stapleton. The team chaperones are Samson Colebrooke and Samantha Anderson. Dr. Larano Knowles is the team physician and the therapists are Terrell Major and Schantell Lewis.
“I feel very confident with this team,” said Head Coach Ingraham. “We are missing some key girls in the 400 meters, and some others as well, for various reasons, but we feel like we have a team that should be able to win a lot of medals and compete for the overall title.
“The under-18 boys and girls, in particular, are very strong. We should do well in those areas. A lot of them are peaking now. A lot of coaches had their athletes ready for the CARIFTA Games, and then there was a tone down period, and now for a number of them, they are back to peak performance. We should do very well.”
The Bahamas’ head coach for the World U20 Championships is Tito Moss.
“We have a real talented team,” said Moss, “At the nationals, we saw that there were two junior national records from Zion Davis and Kei-Mahri Hanna, and they are going to be the flag carriers for us heading into Eugene, Oregon for the world under-20s. We’re very optimistic. This is a diverse team and a very talented team. They are also very mature for their age. There are some strong sprinters and some quarter-milers who did very well at nationals. Our hurdlers will be tough as well, and in the field events, I expect our athletes to contend. Also, we’re excited with Kenny Moxey Jr. in the multi events. Overall, we’re looking for our athletes to compete and advance to finals. All of them are qualifiers, so we expect some big things from them.”
There is still an opportunity for others to be named to the team, as the qualifying deadline for the meet isn’t until July 15.
On the senior side, the Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC) will ratify teams for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and the Commonwealth Games in short order.
The 25th CAC Games is set for July 24 to August 8, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and the 23rd Commonwealth Games will be held from July 23 to August 2, in Glasgow, Scotland.
As it stands now, there is a quota of 10 track and field athletes for The Bahamas for the Commonwealth Games, five men and five women, and 14 track and field athletes for The Bahamas for the CAC Games, seven men and seven women.
Additionally, the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships will be held September 11-13 at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary.
The athletes competing at the inaugural ultimate championships will be invited by World Athletics based on global ranking points. The top 16 athletes for most of the events in the World Athletics Rankings are set to be selected. So far, just two Bahamians are in the quota — Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Devynne Charlton — who have competed in three Diamond League meets apiece this season.
