By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
Long Jumper Khybah Dawson kicked off the 2025 track and field season with a second placed finish in the Mc Ferron 12 Degrees Invitational in his Texas A&M debut, while High Jumper Othniel Gillings set the Carifta Games qualifying pace in the Dag Samuels Development Series opener.
Dawson, who at one time led the competition, settled for a best effort of 7.54m (24’9”), said it was a good opener but he has minor things to fix that will change his jumping in a major way and couldn’t wait to return to practice on Tuesday, to begin working on it.
“It was a good experience for the first time putting on the uniform, understanding the stakes and that I have something to fight for, because only the Top 16 will get to Nationals,” the New Mexico Jr. College transfer told Island Sun Sports. “There’s more responsibility because there are so many moving parts—therapy and treatment appointments—even though I’m not injured—going in the training room to ensure everything is maintained properly, then going to practice. Every coach has meetings discussing the things we need to do and how each athlete is progressing and what they should do to fix it.”
It was discovered that Dawson had a 50% difference in muscle mass in his legs and trainers have been working to correct it and said he can feel the difference in his running. “I feel faster, I feel stronger and my body feels more balanced,” he said. “I’ve been off-balance for so long that I had to get used to being balanced and understanding how to use all that strength.”
Dawson, the 2023 National Jr. Colleges Indoor Long Jump champion, said the positives he got from his first competition is not slowing down at the takeoff board, carrying his speed through the takeoff as he normally slows down, but now he’s carrying his momentum through the jump, a positive he’s building on. He also learned that the person who slows down the least at the takeoff board, jumps the farthest and that’s something he’s working on.
“It feels great being healthy—having no injuries at all,” he said. “It feels a bit weird, but it feels great being healthy. I know once I’m healthy, I can do my best and I’m looking forward to the season and trying to keep healthy.”
1st Carifta Games Qualifier
Gillings was the first to book a ticket to the April 19-21, 52nd Carifta Games in Trinidad and Tobago. Just shy of his 16th birthday later this month, Gillings, who was eight in last year’s U17 Boys High Jump in Grenada with a personal best leap of 1.85m (6’0¾”), cleared 1.75m (5’9”) on his second attempt, then missed at 1.80m (5’10¾”). He later easily won the 400m in 53.44 seconds.
“I was a little nervous because in the High Jump, if you even touch the bar, it can fall off or anything can happen.” Gillings said. “Last year I was injured and I didn’t train during the preseason. I did what I had to do during this preseason, so things will be easier. My goal this year is around 2.05m (6’8¾”) or at least two meters.”
Coach Carl Barrett said Gillings did well based on his preparations including training on Friday before Saturday morning’s competition. “We put in a lot of work yesterday so to come out and to go over 1.70 (5’7”) was a good performance,” he said. “This time last year he was injured and he’s two times stronger than last year, as he started training later in the season. But this year, he has put in a lot of work even through December when he could have been distracted very easily, but he remained focused. He has put in a lot of work and we’re looking forward to him doing well this season.”
Barrett told Island Sun Sports that there are some minor things that they have to work on in the High Jump which counts a lot, including the take off point and how the curve approaching the bar is taken. He said over the next few weeks, they’ll be working on those technical areas.
