Colebrooke to participate in Junior National Championships - Eleuthera athletes perform well at Fritz Grant Invitational.

It was only a two member team made up of Andre Colebrooke and Kristina Knowles that represented Central Eleuthera High School (CEHS) at the 2nd Fritz Grant Invitational held in New Providence during the first weekend in May. Nonetheless CEHS left an impression at the Invitational that was also used as a qualifier for the Junior National Championships.

The National Championships are slated for June 19 - 20 and will serve as the trials for the IAAF World Youth and Junior Pan Am Championships, July 8-12. Colebrooke, of James Cistern, participated in the under 17 boys 400 and 800 meters and Knowles ran in the 800 and competed in the high jump. Colebrooke who finished fourth in the 800 at the Carifta qualifiers in April won the gold medal at the Invitational in a time of 2:05.37 minutes.

According to the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) standards, the time was just over the Junior National Championship qualifying time of 2:05 minutes but good enough to make the cut. Also, Colebrooke advanced to the 400 meter final and finished in eighth place with a time of 1:01.96 minutes over the National Junior Championships required time of :50 seconds. When 13 year old Knowles from Palmetto Point hit the track, she ran with the best of them in the under 15 age group. As the youngest on the track, she won the bronze medal in a fast 800 meter final in a time of 2:43.41 minutes and qualified for the National Junior Championships. Hollie Rolle from Nassau won the gold in a time of 2:31.80 and Jonneice Rigby won the silver in a time of 2:37.35 minutes.

The BAAA's under 18 girls qualifying mark for the National Junior Championships in the 800 meters is set at 2:50 minutes. In the high jump Knowles ended up sixth, with a leap of 1.06 meters under the qualifying mark of 1.65 meters. Knowles told the Eleutheran that hard work pays off. "This is the first time I met Junior National standards. It feels good because it shows that I improved a lot which is a good thing and if I keep improving then maybe one day I will be the best in The Bahamas. In addition, I will continue to train hard to prepare for the Junior Nationals because hard work pays off and practice makes perfect," said the aspiring Olympian. CEHS Head Coach Tony Crean said he was proud of the small but talented team.

"They are both training hard and are improving their times especially Andre who lowers his time every time he runs. Kristina's doing a good job too as a 13 year old running in the under 15 division. "Andre will be running at the Junior Nationals. I am not sure about Kristina because she is so young. Instead she will be going to the Central American and Caribbean Youth trials (June 5-6). They have both participated in 6-7 meets for the year so they should be ready for these larger upcoming events." Crean added that coach John Butler is expected to head a 50 member team to the Primary School Championships set for the third week in May in New Providence.