Portious Warren signalled a warning to her regional rivals with a solid series of throws at the Carifta trials, earlier this month.Warren landed the iron ball 14.29 metres to secure a comfortable victory in the girls’ under-20 shot put. Her best effort on the day was short of the 14.47m throw she had produced to win the 2014 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Championship title, in Mexico. But Warren could take pride in bettering 14 metres four times at the trials.
“No, I’m not satisfied. My goal was to break the 15-metre barrier. I didn’t walk away with that goal but it was my first meet for the season so I’m thankful. Going into the throws I was taking it very calm. I wasn’t putting much effort into it because I just want to peak at the right time.”
Warren is confident of throwing 15-plus at the 2015 Carifta Games in St Kitts and Nevis, on the weekend.
“Based on my preparations, definitely. I’ve been training Monday to Friday, no rest, just thinking about it, breathing everything about Carifta Games, just hoping to get up on that podium and hopefully getting the record.”
To replace Martinique’s Claudia Villeneuve as the Carifta Games girls’ under-20 shot put record holder, Warren would have to better 15.75m. The record, though, is the secondary goal.
“My coach always tells me you walk into the event with the gold medal. What you do during competition determines if you walk away with that gold medal. Hopefully I’m prepared, do everything, go through all my phases, and yes, definitely that gold medal is mine.”
Warren is also looking forward to the July 31 to August 2 Pan Am Junior Championships, in Edmonton, Canada.
“Firstly, I’m focusing on my short-term goal, but Pan Ams is definitely my long-term goal. I want to get over 16 (metres) by Pan Ams, so now I’m just putting in all the preparations necessary. Hopefully, I’ll use Penn Relays as a prep for that.”