Sports
UPDATE: Adaejah Hodge smashes 200m under-20 world record
* Hodge in the final moments of the 200m on Sunday at New Balance Nationals. * Photo Credit: Shawn Conlon/MileSplit
Adaejah Hodge’s 200 meter performance on Sunday was like a 10 on the Richter scale.
Her own coach, wearing a level of shock not seen often in these settings, buried his hands into his face.
“I don’t know when we’re going to see athletes like this ever again,” Gerald Phiri said. “I think it’s going to be a very long time.”
And he might be right. Hodge, the high school junior from Montverde Academy — just 16 years old, her 17th birthday arriving in 10 days — didn’t just break the high school national record in the 200m on Sunday at New Balance Nationals Indoor, but she took a wrecking ball and bulldozed it down, achieving a new world U18 and world U20 standard with her time of 22.33 seconds.
Consider this: Bianca Knight, an Olympic gold medalist in the 4×100, broke the World U20 record in 2008, when she was a college freshman at the University of Texas.
Before the 200m high school national record was broken and broken again this indoor season, she held the previous national standing for 16 years, having ran 22.97 in 2007.
Then Hodge re-set the national record in the 200m prelims with a time of 22.77. It previously stood at 22.89.
“These types of athletes don’t come around often,” Phiri said. “She’s a junior in high school.”
Hodge’s moment in the sun on Sunday was, in simple terms, like seeing a solar eclipse, which is to say extremely rare and maybe career-defining …though maybe not.
“This is just the beginning,” she said.
Hodge, who a year ago competed for the British Virgin Islands at the CARIFTA Games and picked up wins in the 100m, 200m and long jump, had run 23.39 prior to this weekend.
She posted a time of 22.77 in the prelims, which broke the high school national record of 22.89, which was set in February by Mia Brahe-Pedersen (also a junior).
High school girls simply have not run under 23 seconds all that often indoors.
The fact that Hodge has now set the barrier at 22.33? That mark may be nearly impossible to break in the future.
“I just came off the curve and just let everything on the track,” she said.
— By Cory Mull
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) archery team has departed for Kingston, Jamaica, to compete in the 2024 WAAm Caribbean Development Championship. Hosted by the Jamaica Archery Federation (JAI), the event runs from September 18 to 22 and will feature top talent from around the Caribbean and beyond.
The competition provides an opportunity for the BVI team, a mix of beginners and developmental archers, to test their skills against athletes from countries to leave their mark on the regional stage. Leading the charge in the Recurve Beginner Under 15 Men category is Matthew Keandré, while David Persaud will compete in the Recurve Developmental Men category. Both will be testing their skills in the qualification rounds for their respective categories.
The Compound Beginner Under 15 Women category sees Kasadiyah Baird aiming for success, while Naomi Onwufuju and Keyara Smith will represent the BVI in the Compound Developmental Under 18 Women category. Javlyn Frett also joins the developmental ranks in the Compound Developmental Women category, setting her sights on strong results.
Kellyann Tillack, competing in the Recurve Beginner Under 18 Women category, rounds out the squad, each determined to put BVI archery on the map.
Coaches Ritseeniyah Georges and Patrick Smith will be guiding the team through the competition, providing essential support and expertise to help the young athletes navigate this important event.
The competition will feature other archers from regional heavyweights like Jamaica, the Bahamas, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Jamaica, the host nation, leads the pack with a 34-member contingent, while countries like Guyana and the US Virgin Islands (USVI) are also sending strong teams. The United States has joined the competition as well, bringing an additional level of intensity to the championship.
In Round 3 of the 45th Chess Olympiad, the British Virgin Islands notched its first win in the Open division, with Jhon Samuel securing a crucial victory on Board 2 against Bermuda.
The historic event, featuring a record-breaking 193 teams in the Open section and 181 squads in the Women’s competition, is being held in Budapest, Hungary, from September 10-23.
For more updates, follow BVI Chess Federation.
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