4 Medals for Saint Lucia at LIME CARIFTA 2012

Saint Lucia's 7-member team at the 2012 LIME CARIFTA Games came away with four medals, the same number as in 2011, including three silver and one bronze. A year ago at the Catherine Hall Sports Complex in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Team Saint Lucia copped two silver and two bronze medals. On balance, I thought this year's team gave a fair return on my expectations at the National Sports Complex in Devonshire, Bermuda.

Shem Edward repeated his second-place finish in under-20 men's Pole Vault, even though he only cleared his opening height of 4.05m, during the course of which he experienced what appeared to be a severe cramp in his right calf. This season, he's gone as high as 4.60m, which is the CARIFTA record, so the 2009 champion was disappointed at his inability to continue. Xavier Boland of Jamaica repeated as champion at 4.40m.

Jeannelle Scheper added a third LIME CARIFTA medal to her collection, bronze this time. None of the High Jump competitions really lived up to their promise in Bermuda, but the South Carolina sophomore cleared 1.80m in the under-20 women's division, just about where she's been all season. Jeannelle, who will represent Saint Lucia at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bareclona, Spain, in July. She has one more year at CARIFTA.

In 2011, Sharnique Leonce ended seventh in Pentathlon after failing to complete the 800m run. this year she started out with a bang, her time of 15.26 seconds in the 100m Hurdles probably a Saint Lucia National Record for that event (Makeba Alcide has a faster wind-aided time) and the winning time at CARIFTA. Despite subpar marks in High Jump and Long Jump, she held on to collect a silver medal with a personal-best 3035 points.

In his first year at the under-20 level, Marbeq Edgar reversed the tactics that saw him taking a bronze medal in the 2011 under-17 1500m run. In Jamaica, he had sprinted out ahead of the field early, challenging the rest to catch him. This time, he silently stalked eventual winner Orane Wint for three full laps before unleashing a finishing kick that nearly caught the Jamaican napping, eventually missing out on gold by a split-second (4:06.34).

Sadly, conditions were so poor (cold, windy and wet) that very few track athletes were unable to get out of second gear in Bermuda. Tarlbert Poleon made the under-20 men's 400m final with an excellent run in the preliminaries, but none of the 400m times merited writing home about. He was fifth overall (49.53) and as he prepares for World Junior Championships, he will also keep an eye on getting back to CARIFTA in 2013. He is 18 this year.

Marbeq (fifth, 1:59.16) and Talbert (13th, 22.06) did not fare as well in their second events (800m and 200m, respectively). Samara Edward struggled in the under-17 girls 1500m (seventh, 5:26.42) and 800m run (ninth, 2:27.73) and LIME CARIFTA first-timer Ace Louis cleared just 1.70m to end 11th in the under-17 boys High Jump.