Antiguan female sprinter, Joella Lloyd, opened her track and field season in grand style having placed second in the women’s 60 metere dash at the Virgina Tech Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Virginia over the weekend.
Running a time of 7.36 seconds , the Reigning Junior Sportswoman of the year and University of Tennesse sophmore settled for the silver medal after finishing behind Grenadian Halle Hazard who ran a time of 7.34 seconds.
Brittany Avenie finished third (7.44secs).
“I am pleased with my performance this weekend. My season opener in the 60m was faster than my season opener last year so I know I’m on track to improve my times from last year,” said Lloyd when she spoke with this newsroom.
She also earned a gold medal after running the third leg of the women’s 4x400m with her school. Clemson and Virginia Tech were second and third place respectively.
The Antigua Girls High graduate says it is her goal to qualifiy for a number of major athletic events this year.
“My goal this year is to lower my personal bests in all my events and by extension qualify for international meets like the Olympics and World Juniors”.
When asked how she is balanching her academics and sporting career during the pandemic, Lloyd mentioned that so far it has been smooth sailing.
“It has been easy balancing training and school during the pandemic since most of my classes are asynchronous so I can watch lecture videos and complete assignments when it best suits me,” she explained.
Meanwhile, another Antiguan sprinter, Tahir Walsh, was in action over the weeked.
Walsh, who is a former Commonwelath Youth 100m champion, ran a season opening time of 6.75 seconds into a positive 2.3 wind for third in heat three in the men’s 60m dash in Clermont, Florida at the Orange Winter Classic #2.
Some bad luck would however would cause Walsh who nows represents CPTC-Tracksmith to slip in the finals of the event in the blocks. He recovered and ran a time of 6.82 seconds to finish 6th. The race was won by Jamaican Carifta champion Kevaun Rattray.
