The Bermuda Pacers Track Club will make a welcome return to the Russell E Blunt East Coast Invitational Track Meet in Durham, North Carolina, this weekend as the 2022 edition of the meet also marks the 40th year that they have competed in the prestigious junior event.

The Pacers are taking a team of 22 athletes to the meet, which will be hosted by the Durham Striders Track Club at the Durham County Memorial Stadium. The team will compete in 38 individual events and three replay races starting on Friday and finishing on Sunday.

The event was cancelled the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but teams have been eagerly awaiting its return with some 81 teams represented by over 1,000 athletes between the ages of eight and 18 set to compete in 49 individual events and three relays.

The Bermuda team will be led by Carifta athletes Shayla Cann and Denver Tucker. Cann who will be making her debut at the meet when she competes in the 17-18 girls 400 and 800 metres, while Tucker will compete in the 15-16 boys 100 and 200 metres.

Seer Carey and Jayden Grant will also compete in the 15-16 boys’ division, in the 200 and 400 metres. I’Arura Golding, the lone competitor in the 15-16 girls division, will compete in the 100 and 200 metre hurdles.

Saj Carey, older brother to Seer Carey, will be the lone competitor in the 17-18 boys 100 and 200 metres.

The team will have a full list of 13-14 girls competitors, including 400 metre and middle-distance Carifta athletes Ellise Dickinson and Jadea Grant who will lead that age group.

Grant will compete in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 metres, while Dickinson will run in the 200 and 400 metres. Other team-mates in the division are Arima Turner, Pria Wilson and Lashae Jones who are all competing in the 100 and 200 metres.

Day’asha Dill and Amaris Munya, two other distance runners, will compete in the 400, 800 and 1,500 metres respectively. This same group of young girls will also compete in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 metre relays.

The team will also have a full list of athletes in the 13-14 boys division with Carifta athlete Miles Outerbridge lead this age group. Outerbridge and team-mates Malik Paynter and Andre Hollinsid will compete in the 100 and 200 metres.

Seasoned athlete Daylen Scott with compete in the long jump, 200, and 400 metres. This same group of young boys will also compete in the 4 x 100 metre relay.

In the 11-12 girls’ division, the team will have Kelise Wade, Antoinette Barry and Riana Robinson compete in the 400, 800 and 1,500 metres respectively.

In the 9-10 girls division, the team will have the “Fastest Kid on the Rock” champion, Jasmine Reid-Rubaine, competing in the long jump, 100 and 200 metres.

The youngest member of the team is Teagan Scott-Hanley, who will compete in the eight-and-under girls division in the 200 and 400 metres. Both athletes will be making their debut appearance at the Russell E Blunt meet.

The team will be accompanied by Pacers executive officers, coaches and parents.

“We are extremely excited about returning to the Russell E Blunt East Coast Invitational Track Meet,” coach Cal Simons said.

“The athletes have worked hard to reaching the qualifying standards and I feel confident that the athletes will do well.”

The team returns to Bermuda on Monday.