The 45th CARIFTA Games are done and dusted. The 2016 edition of the Caribbean's junior athletics festival came to a close on Easter Monday, 28 March, at the National Athletics Stadium in St George's, Grenada. A delightful exhibition of Junkanoo, soca, stilt walkers, and fireworks feted the 600 plus athletes, who had given of their best and showcased the region's athletics prowess over the three days preceding, under the watchful eyes of the North and Central America and Caribbean Athletics Confederation (NACAC) president, Victor Lopez, and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president, Lord Sebastian Coe.

Jamaica bossed the medals table, with Barbados demonstrating significant improvement to edge the Bahamas for second place. Although the "official" medals table shows Bahamas with six gold medals, there were actually five victories for the islands of song.

The performance was consistent with what the Bahamas have done in recent ears, absent the blip of 2014, when a sole Bahamian climbed to the top of the medal rostrum. In 2013 and 2015, the Bahamas claimed 31 medals, eight gold on each occasion, to place second.

In 2016, there were five gold medals, 15 silver, and 13 bronze, for a total of 33, the most since 2011 in Hamilton, Bermuda.

The highlights for Bahamas included wins in the boys open Octathlon and under-18 boys High Jump.

Kendrick Thompson is multitalented to the extent that he is being recruited for basketball. But at CARIFTA, the Tabernacle Baptist Christian Academy boy tallying a record 5849 points to improve on Shakiel Chattoo's 2015 mark of  5839. Thompson topped the 100m (10.57 seconds, 959 points), was ninth in Long Jump (6.23m, 637 points), was second in Shot Put (12.64m, 645 points) and won the 400m (48.22 seconds, 899 points) to lead after the opening day.

On Day 2, Kendrick was a narrow second in the 110m Hurdles (14.61, 897 points) , fourth in one of the Bahamas' pet events, High Jump (1.93m, 740 points), and third in Javelin Throw (50.66m, 598 points). That put him on record pace, and comfortably ahead of his nearest rivals, including teammate Ken Mullings, in third. Even with a showing of just 5:15.49 for ninth and a mere 474 points in the 1500m run, the title and record belonged to Kendrick.

Ken Mullings, meanwhile, got the bronze with 5560 points, Jamaica's Marcus Brown splitting the Bahamians with 5800 points.

The second gold medal for Bahamas came through young Jyles Etienne of Stony Brook in Long Island, New York. Jyles came in as  the clear favourite, with a personal best mark of 2.11m, and he was in fact targetting the record of 2.13m set by compatriot Raymond Higgs in 20017. Jyles ended up in a jump-off against Jamaica's Kobe-Jordan Rhooms, with identical clearances up to 2.06m, both missing at 2.09m. In the jump-off, it was the Bahamian over at 2.07m, the Jamaican missing and settling for silver.

Again, it was a Bahamas 1-3, as Benjamin Clarke went over at 2.03m for third place.

Denvaughn Whymns prevailed in a marathon under-18 boys Long Jump, a total of 21 competitors entered, and one failing to start the event. Two and a half hours after the event was announced, Whymns had cleared 7.16m to beat event favourite Enzo Hodebar of Guadeloupe. Hodebar, the Triple Jump champion, cleared 7.09m for silver.

Charisma Taylor had a bittersweet meet for the second year in a row. The defending champion in under-18 girls Long Jump and Triple Jump, Charisma stumbled in the 100m Hurdles in 2015. She did so again in 2016, leading at the penultimate flight, before crashing through it and falling to the track. But the St Andrew's girl shook off her disappointment to successfully defend her Triple Jump title, all the more remarkable in that the events were taking place simultaneously.

It was neck-and-neck between Charisma and Guyana's Chantoba Bright, the silver medallist in Long Jump, where Charisma finished just ninth. In Triple Jump, Bright cleared 12.14m in the first round, whilst Charisma's opening trial was recorded at 12.16m. In the penultimate round, the Guyanese lass benefited from a big tailwind of 3.0 metres per second to put down a mark of 12.39m. But Charisma responded in the same round, jumping 12.53m to settle the matter.

One of the events for which the Bahamas was always going to be favourites, the 5000m run for under-20 boys, descended into a controversial farce. The young Florida State Seminole, the Bahamas record holder for the event, crossed the line and came to a stop, despite the fact that the lap counter was ringing the bell, and the meet announcer told him he had another lap to go. Benjamin's response was pointed, as he protested that he was done, and that he was no 16-minute runner. After several minutes, and an official review, it emerged that Benjamin was in fact the champion, supposedly clocking in at 15:24.25, well below his best.

The only track medal for the Bahamas, then, but plenty of room for optimism, not just for later this year, when some of the top competitors will head to the World Junior Championships in Poland, but for the 2017 CARIFTA Games as well.

Brianne Bethel competed for the first time in the Under-20 girls division and got bronze in the 100m dash. She also got fourth in the 200m dash, whilst Jenae Ambrose copped silver in her last year of eligibility at this level. Similarly, Serena Brown got a second consecutive bronze medal in Discus Throw, transitioning successfully from under-18 to under-20.

Charisma's winning jump would have won her silver in the under-20 division. Last year's under-18 boys Triple Jump champion, Tamar Green, was fourth in the under-20 event this year, and should return in 2017. Lat year, Tavonte Mott set an under-18 record in boys 110m Hurdles. This year, moving up to the under-20 class, he took silver. Javan Martin moved up to the under-20 category with a fifth place in the boys 100m.

So, next year, Curacao should see a number of these contenders improving their standings, all things being equal. Hard work by athletes and coaches over the next 12 months should see a big medal haul for the Bahamas, with the cowbells and drums providing the fabulous environment that is unique to the CARIFTA Games. And even more exciting, the CARIFTA Congress confirmed on Monday that the Bahamas had been awarded the 2018 edition of the championship. Look out, Caribbean. The CARIFTA Games are coming home.