Bermuda Pacers girls shine on international trip
Young athletes from Bermuda Pacers Track Club delivered impressive displays at the Potomac Valley Association 14 and Under National Age-Group Invitational last weekend.
Skye Furbert, the youngest member of the team, captured first place in the girls 9-10 long jump with a personal best leap of 3.57 metres.
The 9-year-old also advanced to the 60 metres and 200 metres finals, placing fifth in the shorter distance and tenth in a field of 85 in the 200.
Diamond Morris advanced to the 800m final in the same division, finishing fourth of 22 competitors with a personal time of 2min 51.65sec. She also competed strongly in the 400m and was fifth in the long jump with a leap of 3.24m, demonstrating versatility across disciplines.
In the highly competitive 13-14 division, Mylah DeSilva advanced to the 400m final, recording personal-best times in both rounds. She ran 1:03.96 in the preliminaries before lowering her time to 1:02.97 in the final, placing eighth of 75 athletes after finishing fourth in her heat.
Amaya Davis placed fourth in the long jump with a 4.60m effort, just missing out on third place medal by two centimetres. She also competed in the sprint events.
Ava St Luce ran 8.72 in the 60m and 29.77 in the 200m, while Giselle Reid-Rubaine clocked 9.36 in the 60m and 1:16.69 in the 400m.
Cal Simons, head coach of Bermuda Pacers, feels that the Maryland indoor meet marked an important milestone for the squad.
“This was the first indoor competition for all of our athletes and that transition is not easy,” Simons said.
“Indoor racing requires adjustments in pacing, stride pattern and race strategy, especially on the tighter banked turns. For them to adapt so quickly speaks to their preparation and mindset.
“With athletes such as Mylah already being scouted by international schools, performances like this matter.
“It is not about medals, it is about exposure, experience and showing that Bermuda’s young athletes can compete and belong on bigger stages.”
