Carifta champ Tafari Waldron takes SSTF open Cross-Country title
Written by Roneil Walcott on September 23, 2024
Carifta champion and ace endurance runner Tafari Waldron took the top honours in the first Secondary Schools Track and Field (SSTF) Middle-Distance League event on September 22 when he won the Trinidad Cross-Country Run at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain.
Waldron, who copped one of Trinidad and Tobago’s four gold medals at Carifta 2024 when he took the boys’ under-20 5,000-metre crown, beat Jeremy Samaroo and veteran Jules La Rode to the finish line to take the men’s open Cross-Country title.
In the women’s open race, Zadie Pascall took the top spot ahead of Davina Sooknanan and Seneca Noel.
In the boys’ 17 and over category, CTS College of Business and Computer Science’s Darius Harding took the top prize, with Presentation College San Fernando’s Shane Bissoon and Queen’s Royal College’s Hakim Salandy placing second and third respectively.
St Joseph’s Convent PoS athlete Kayleigh Forde, a bronze medallist at Carifta 2024, won the girls’ 17 and over category, with Holy Faith Convent Penal’s Bridgette Bellamy and Bates Memorial High School’s Shenequa Goitia rounding off the podium spots.
Bellamy’s schoolmate Kyla Hospedales earned Holy Faith Penal top honours in the girls’ under-17 category when she edged out Zariah Pascall (El Dorado West Secondary) and Anna-Marie Francis (St Joseph’s Convent, PoS) to claim first place.
In the boys’ under-17 category, QRC had a lot to cheer about as Isiah Alder held off competition from Toco Secondary’s Darreon Thom and Trinity College East’s Jayden Alexander to run away with the age group honours.
In the under-15 category, Arima Central Secondary’s Mikael Serrette and El Dorado East Secondary’s Reneice Smith took the respective boys and girls’ titles.
The date for the Tobago leg of the SSTF Cross-Country Run is still to be decided, but action in the Middle-Distance League will continue with the 5K event, which will be held across the North, Tobago and South regions on October 10, 15 and 24 respectively.
The Middle-Distance League culminates with the Third Run, with separate races in the South/Central, Tobago and North Regions. This segment of the Middle-Distance will start with the Hill Run in San Fernando on November 5, which will be followed by races in the Tobago and North regions on November 7 and 15 respectively.
In each event of the Middle Distance League, there is a students’ category and an open category in which members of the public can participate.
Cross-Country champs: Tafari Waldron (left) and St Joseph’s Convent Port of Spain’s Kayleigh Forde show off their medals after winning the respective open and girls’ 17+ categories at the Secondary Schools Track and Field Trinidad Cross-Country Run at the Queen’s Park Savannah, PoS on September 22, 2024. –
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