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Cumberbatch and Armstrong hit the mark

Cayman-bound: Johndell Cumberbatch has reached the qualifying standard for the Carifta Games in the 1,500 metres(File photograph by Lawrence Trott)

Bermuda athletes Johndell Cumberbatch and Nathan Armstrong reached the Carifta Games qualifying standards last weekend.

Cumberbatch, who won the local men’s Front Street Mile last month, reached the mark in the under-20 5,000 metres, while Armstrong, the son of former Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby winner Terrance Armstrong, qualified in the under-17 1,500 and 3,000 metres.

Armstrong, who was born in the United States and attends Pompton Lake High School in New Jersey, clocked 4min 20.63sec in the 1,500, three seconds under the qualifying standard of 4:23.

He then broke the tape in the 3,000 in 9:25.98, well under the standard of 9:45.

Armstrong actually ran 1,600 and 3,200 races, placing seventh and second respectively and was timed over the 1,500 and 3,000 distances.

“We communicated that we needed to get his time at the 1,500 in the 1,600 event and the 3,000 time in the 3,200 event,” Donna Raynor, president of the Bermuda National Athletics Association, said.

“Imagine if he only had to run 1,500 or 3,000; he would probably have run even faster.”

Cumberbatch, 18, qualified for the 5,000 at a meet at the National Stadium on Saturday, crossing the line in 16:50.61, comfortably under the qualifying time of 17:00. Cumberbatch finished seventh in the under-20 1,500 at the Carifta Games in Nassau, Bahamas, finishing in 4:12.41.

Cumberbatch and Armstrong become the third and fourth athletes to qualify for the Carifta Games, which will be held in the Cayman Islands in April.

Amelia Othman qualified in the under-17 girls’ high jump at a local meet last month, the same weekend that Caitlyn Bobb achieved the standard in both the 200 and 400 at the Franklin & Marshall High School Invitational Indoor Meet in Pennsylvania.

Bobb’s mother Dawnette Douglas competed for Bermuda in the 100 at the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.

The BNAA is confident more athletes will reach the Carifta Games qualifying standards in the coming weeks, with several competitors going close at meets last weekend.

Za’Kayza Parsons missed out in the under-17 girls; 100, where the standard is 12.50 after clocking 12.76.

Samaa Re Morris and Keturah Bulford both were just outside the under-17 girls’ 200; Morris finishing in 26.63 and Bulford 26.88. The qualifying mark is 26.00.

Nirobi Smith-Mills almost qualified in the under-17 boys’ 800 with a time of 2:03.98. The standard is 2.03.

Kahzi Sealy was four seconds outside the qualifying mark in the under-17 boys’ 3,000 after finishing in 9:49.78. The standard is 9:45.

Mikal Dill, an under-20 long jumper, had a best leap of 6.61 as he looks to meet the qualifying mark of 6.80.