OMARI LEWIS (Concorde) and Mauricia Prieto (Simplex) dominated the men and women’s sprint events respectively on the final day of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) preparation meet at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on Sunday.
The pair won the respective men’s and women’s 100 and 200-metre races and were pleased to return to competition after many months of inactivity owing to the pandemic.
Lewis, 21, cruised to victory in the men’s 100m in 10.72 seconds. Finishing second was UTT Patriots’ Matthew Graham (11.02) while Cougars’ Ariel Kerr (11.09) was third.
Later on in the day, Lewis concluded a successful return to the local circuit with victory in the 200m. He clocked 21.80 and finished ahead of Simplex’s Shakeel Francis (22.43) and Chazz Alexander (22.47) respectively.
Although pleased with his results, Lewis said he wanted to improve on his times.
“It feels really good to compete after being out for so long,” he said. “A lot of hard work has been done in training and the build-up towards this meet was very intense.
“I tried to come out today to execute. I did not get the desired result but I’m still satisfied I came out with the win and injury free. I was aiming to clock 10.6 or below,” he added.
Lewis’s last meet on local soil was at TT’s Olympic trials last July. There, he clocked a personal best of 10.63 in the 100m. Improvement, he said, will come over time as athletes gradually return to full training.
“Bettering my times is a progression and I can’t rush into it too much,” Lewis said. “My body has to be able to readjust after such a long time off.
“I need to stay focused, continue working smart, especially on my mental, stay healthy, get enough sleep and stay spiritually strong.”
Last year, Lewis qualified for the Carifta Games for the first time in his junior career but never go the chance to represent TT since the event was cancelled courtesy covid19. He must now seek qualification to all forthcoming meets as a senior athlete.
Having missed out on his chance in 2021, Lewis said he is “hungry” to represent TT on the global scale.
Meanwhile in the women’s 100m, Prieto cruised to victory in 12.01. Concorde’s Reese Webster (12.10) finished second while Prieto’s clubmate Kamaria Durant (12.32) was third.
Prieto went on to win the 200m in 23.95. She was again followed by Webster (24.33) and Cougars’ Caliyah Wallace (26.20) respectively.
She was pleased to be back on the track.
“It feels really great and nice to come and get the dust off and to see where I’m at. The last few months have been good to me. I’ve been progressing really well as I took a year off in 2021 because of the pandemic. It feels good being back and healthy,” said Prieto.
She has big plans for 2022. And like Lewis, although victorious on the day, Prieto said there’s still work to be done to enhance her craft.
“I plan on qualifying for the World Championships and Commonwealth Games. It’s nice to win but I think I still need to work on the first 30m of the race because that is m
