Caribbean nations in midst of Olympic Trials
 Several former Barton Community College track and field athletes will compete this weekend for a place on their nations 2008 Olympic Team later this summer in Beijing, China. Jamaica and the Bahamas are two countries that will have former Cougars competing to make the Olympics. Trinidad & Tobago just completed their national championships this past weekend with one ex Cougar more than likely earning a spot at the Olympics when Aaron Armstrong qualified in both the 100m and 200m. This weekend reigning Olympic 200m gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown will vie for a spot on the Jamaican team again in both the 100m and 200m as well as the 4x100m relay. She will be among close to double digit former Cougars competing at the championships.
Trinidad & Tobago
Armstrong ran 2nd in both the 100m and 200m. Armstrong ran a wind-legal 10.10 in the finals of the 100m, tying Richard Thompson for 2nd. Marc Burns won the race in 10.01. For Armstrong it was his seasons best, which had been 10.15. All of those times are better than the A standard but Darrell Brown, one of the top sprinters in the country, came up lame in the 100m finals and didn’t finish among the top 3. Armstrong ran a season best 20.48 to place 2nd in the 200m, also ahead of the A standard, likely earning him a spot in the 200m for Trinidad & Tobago. Rondell Sorrillo ran a 20.43 to win the race. LeJuan Simon, a 2004 Olympian, did not compete in triple jump at the national championships. The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee will actually selected the team. If chosen, it would Armstrong’s 1st Olympics at the age of 31. He will at the very least probably be chosen for the 4x100m relay if not the 100m and 200m as well.
Jamaica
Some of Jamaica’s top sprinters have gone through Barton, highlighted by Campbell. She won a pair of gold medals at the 2004 Olympics in Greece, anchoring the winning 4x100m relay team in addition to her gold in the 200m. She won bronze in the 100m. Campbell will vie for a return trip June 25-27 at the Jamaican Olympic Trials. During the 2004 Olympics, Jamaica had 5 former Cougars on the national team with 3 winning medals as Aleen Bailey and Beverly McDonald also won gold on the 4x100m relay team.
Campbell is the favorite to win the 100m and 200m at the trials but the competition in the sprint races will be fierce at the meet. Campbell has run the fastest time in the world this year in the 100m with a 10.88 just a couple of weeks ago. But she is joined by 3 other Jamaicans who have recorded times among the top 8 in the world. Simone Facey – another ex Barton sprinter – has the 5th fastest at 10.95 while Kerron Stewart (10.96) and Sherone Simpson (10.99) are close behind. Three more Jamaicans are not far behind, including Bailey – a 5th place finisher in the 100m at the 04 Olympics – who has run an 11.2.
The 200m will set up much the same with Campbell’s 22.38 this year 4th best in the world and Stewart’s 22.35 3rd best. Simpson (22.43) and Facey (22.45) are among the top 7 in the world. Bailey – a finalist and 4th place finisher at the 04 Olympics has the 10th best time amongst Jamaicans this year. Bailey was 6th at the 07 World Championships in the 200m. Age has finally caught up with 3-time Olympian McDonald, retiring in 2006 at the age of 36.
Things won’t be much different in the men’s 100m and 200m where Usain Bolt recently broke the world record in the 100m and also holds the fastest time in the world in the 200m. Asafa Powell isn’t far behind the 100m and several Jamaicans are amongst the best in the world in both sprint events. This makes things tough for a pair of former Cougars trying to make the team. Steve Mullings has a season-best of 10.19, which is 6th best among his countrymen in the 100m. Omar Brown – Veronica Campbell’s husband and former Barton teammate – has recorded the 10th best time in the 200m this year among Jamaican’s with a 20.81.
 Mardrea Hyman is a past Olympian, running a 4:14.20 in the 1500m at the 2000 Olympics. Hyman has since switched focus making it to the past 2 World Championships in the 3000m steeplechase. She has already reached the A standard and currently has the 2nd best time on anyone in the country this year. Hyman also runs the 800m and 1500m but has not met any of the standards in those events. Hyman will run in the 1500m at the Trials. Patricia Hall has an outside shot at making the team in a very talented 400m field, where she has a career best of 51.45 in 2006 as does Lancford Davis in the 400m, where he has the 6th best qualifying mark of 46.02.
Two more former Cougar Olympians are not running at the trials this year. Chris Pinnock ran for Jamaica in the 2004 Olympics in the 110m hurdles, making it to the semifinals and Michelle Ballentine in the 800m in Greece, running a 2:00.94 in the semifinals.
Bahamas
Leevan Sands will attempt to make the Bahamas Olympic team for the 2nd straight time, just missing the finals at the 2004 Olympics in the triple jump, jumping 53-7 1/4 in the semifinals. Sands has been jumping with the best in the world this year with a best of 56-7 1/4 – the 8th best jump in the world this year. The Bahamas Olympic Trials will be June 27-28.
 Virgin Islands
A current Barton track star and a former star will compete for the US Virgin Islands this year in the Olympics. Tabarie Henry obtained the A standard in the 400m this year while running at Barton and will be on the national team in Beijing. Ex Cougar Laverne Jones-Ferrette will be making a return trip to the Olympics, competing in the 100m and 200m at the 2004 Olympics. She is qualified in 3 events this time around. She has already established the A standard with her career best of 11.24 in the 100m this year and a 22.77 in the 200m. Qualifying marks can go back to January of 2007. Last season Jones set personal bests and A standard marks in the both the 200m and 400m – qualifying her in both events for the 2008 Olympics. In 2007 Jones ran career bests of 22.52 in the 200m and 51.47 in the 400m.
Barbados
Some new blood has taken over as the top hurdler in Barbados with one common thread – both have Barton bloodlines. Ryan Brathwaite, a sophomore at Barton next fall, has earned an Olympic B standard this year, which qualifies for him to make the Olympics as the only hurdler from Barbados to have earned that mark. In the 2004 Olympics, Stephen Jones, a former Cougar, ran for Barbados in the 110m hurdles running a career best 13.56 in Greece. Now it is Braithwaite’s turn as he has run a 13.59 this year and currently holds the school record at Barton.
For Jamaican National Championships go to http://www.jaaaltd.com/
For Bahamas National Championships go to http://www.bahamastrack.com
For Trinidad & Tobago National Championships go to http://www.tilastopaja.org/db/results.php?CID=11842356&Season=2008
For Virgin Island Olympic Information go to http://virginislandstrackandfield.org/
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