Bobby-Gaye, 13 others join Racers

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

Former Holmwood Technical standout Bobby Gaye Wilkins-Gooden, who is serving the final few months of a two-year drug ban, is among 14 athletes who have been added to the roster of the Glen Mills-marshalled Racers Track Club, according to a release on the club's website.

"Several new athletes could be seen going through the paces. Bobby-Gaye Wilkins, Javere Bell, Deandre Whitehorne, Bernado Brady were among the new faces," the website reported.

The club also welcomed new coach Jermaine Shand and administrative director Kevin Stewart to its ranks.

Wilkins-Gooden, who left for the USA shortly after leaving Holmwood Technical in 2008 - the same year she qualified for Jamaica's team to the Beijing Olympics - helped Jamaica to a 4x400m bronze medal.

She was a 400m finalist at the 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships in her first major international appearance.

In 2009, she was named as a reserve for the IAAF World Championships team and a year later she was a semi-finalist in the 400m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, before helping the 4x400m relay team to bronze in a national indoor record, 3:28.49.

It was at the same meet where she tested positive for the selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) andranine, which is listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency as an anabolic agent.

She was later slapped with a two-year ban by the local authorities and will once again be eligible to compete after April 9, 2012.

Wilkins-Gooden is one of four new females who have joined the University of the West Indies-based club, along with former Edwin Allen and University of Technology/MVP Track Club athlete Ristananna Tracey, former Vere Technical sprinting standout Deandre Whitehorne and Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles bronze medallist Nickiesha Wilson.

Outstanding junior quarter-miler Javere Bell, who represented Jamaica at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships and the 2010 World Junior Championships, is also listed as a member of the club.

Former Kingston College and UCLA sprinter André Wellington, who represented Jamaica at the 2003 IAAF World Youth Championships and the 2004 IAAF World Junior Championships, will also be looking to lower his 10.38 (100m) and 21.59 (200m) personal best while training with the likes of his new clubmates Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.

New Racers athletes: André Wellington, Javere Bell, André Clarke, Shevon Barnes, Bernado Brady, Davion Daye, Darion Bent, Nicholas Maitland, Peter Matthews, Dwight Mullings Deandre Whitehorne, Ristananna Tracey, Nickiesha Wilson, Bobby-Gaye Wilkins-Gooden.