Eldred Henry competes in the 17th Pan Am Jr. Championships Shot Put in Medellin, Colombia, where he placed 4th for the best ever finish by a BVI athlete in the competition. PHOTO: Liga de Atletismo DeAntioquia
Eldred Henry brought the curtains down on the 2013 track and field season with the best finish ever by a British Virgin Islands athlete in the Pan American Jr. Championships, when he placed fourth in the 6K Shot Put on Sunday evening, in the 17th edition of the competition held in Medellin, Colombia.
Henry’s performance came after equaling Samantha John’s 2009 fifth place finish in the 800m, when he heaved the Discus out to a Jr. National Record throw on Friday night.
Henry, who will begin his studies as a Central Arizona College freshman on Wednesday, tossed the 6k ball 17.75m. “I felt pretty good in the beginning and had a good warm up and a few good practice throws. My first throw was my best which was 17.75m,” he noted. “My second throw of 17.50 didn’t come together the way I wanted it to but it was still pretty good. Then, it started to rain and that threw me off my game completely. I was slipping in ring and the ball had no grip due to the fact that it was wet and it went down hill from there. But, the good thing is my first throw was able to keep me in the fourth place position throughout the competition.”
On Friday night, he tossed the 1.75kg Discus implement out to 55.45m and placed fifth, improving his personal best of 54.33m set at home on May 10. The mark eclipsed Eric “Shaq” Matthias’ 10-year old National Jr. Record of 55.20 established during the 2003 Carifta Games in Trinidad.
“I know I could have done better but it wasn’t my best day. I was aiming for at least 60m but I wasn’t able to achieve that,” Henry reflected. “I got an alright warm up but it wasn’t the best. My opening throw was 50.11m and it went down hill from there. Everything felt off and I didn’t know what I was doing wrong due to the fact that my coach wasn’t here to tell me what I was doing wrong,” he explained. “You could say I was throwing blind. I made it to the finals as the last person on the list with the eight best throw. I didn’t start to improve until my fifth throw when I hit 52.21 then my last effort was my best, which was 55.45.”
Trevia Gumbs was seventh in the Shot Put with a throw of 12.02m. In the Discus Throw, she was 14th with a heave of 29.99m while her twin sister Tynelle was 13th after her platter landed 30.82m. In the Javelin Throw, Tynelle flung the spear out to 33.80m on her third attempt after fouling her first two tries to place 15th overall.
Shaquoy Stephens ran 10.76 seconds in his 100m semifinal but did not advance.
