www.bviolympics.com CAC Games CARTAGENA, Colombia—Competing in his last major international meeting, British Virgin Islands Long Jumper Keita Cline—one of the territory’s most successful athletes—stopped short of calling it quits, after ending the competition with a mark of 7.08 meters on Friday night in the finals of his event in the Central American and Caribbean Games, in Cartagena, Colombia.
“I came out with pretty good expectations and felt pretty good, but I probably can’t say. It’s between injuries and a variety of things why I couldn’t put it together,” Cline said. “No excuses, it was a crappy performance. I’m a shadow of my former self. At the end of this season I’m going to be making some decisions as to my role on future national teams. It was disappointing for me, disappointing for BVI, but, we have one shining light in Tahesia Harrigan, and I’m not going to take away from that.”
Coach Dag Samuels said after Cline made the finals, the hope was that he would get at lest one good jump in. He said Cline had very good approaches on Thursday and everyone was pleased. “But today, for whatever reason, he went back into some of the old habits and could not make the adjustments,” Samuels noted. “Because he wasn’t making the adjustments, he could not advance to the final eight. I think somewhere in the back of his mind, he’s contemplating that this is his last hurrah. He really wanted to go out with a big bang, and unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”
Cline on Wednesday became the third BVI finalist when he cut the sand with a season’s best leap of 7.78 meters. He said it is very positive to have had the senior athletes stepping up to the finals. He said it shows that BVI athletes can be competitive.
As he steps aside, Cline is optimistic about BVI track and field. He said from what he has seen from the junior girls, there are some shining lights and some up and serious potential coming up. He said as long as the girls stay focused and they are given the support they need, there will be a lot coming from the BVI. “I see 2012 (Olympics) as a mark these girls can be ready for,” the most successful BVI male junior athlete said. “If we get a few boys on the track there’s no telling what can happen.”
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