|
2001 Netball Preps Underway
(25 January 2001) - The St. Lucia National Netball Association isn't likely to begin its 2001 domestic season until some time in February, but the Association is putting the necessary machinery in place to ensure a smooth tournament. On Saturday this week an officials' seminar is slated for Dennery.
The seminar will incorporate umpires, timekeepers and scorers, with umpires taking part in practical sessions as well as theoretical exercises. Officials from around the island are expected to participate in this activity, which will be held at the Dennery Primary School from one pm.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
School Volleyball Returns
(25 January 2001) - The last time St. Lucia held a secondary schools' volleyball tournament was 1997. The elite students from that competition comprised the national team to the inaugural Caribbean Under-Twenty Championships. From '97 to '99 several of these youngsters became fixtures on the national team, maintaining St. Lucia's dominance at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States level. Some of them secured scholarships to American universities and colleges. In spite of that successful record, the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, Youth and Sports suspended the tournament, perhaps due to lack of sponsorship – until this year, that is.
The tournament will begin on 16 February, with competition at under-sixteen and under-nineteen levels for boys and girls. To help teachers prepare, the Volleyball Association collaborated with the Ministry to host a Sport Aid Programme. This year, the Ministry has initiated an exchange with the Cuban government whereby two coaches – one for volleyball, the other for track and field – are working with the Ministry, with individual schools and with elite athletes for an unspecified time period. Both coaches have been traveling the island, visiting schools and holding discussions with teachers/coaches.
Volleyball Association public relations officer Shana Mondesir was among the teachers taking part in a brief workshop facilitated by the Cuban coach, Enrique Sardino. The exercise was particularly to the less experienced coaches. The competition's format is yet to be finalized, but the Ministry is hoping to work with the Association to iron out the details.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
Magloire Sets New National Record
(23 January 2001) - 25-year-old Dane Magloire, from Dennery on St. Lucia's east coast, has had a difficult road to success. Several times men's long jump and triple jump national champion, two years ago he left home for St. Augustine's College in North Carolina. His entrée to NCAA Division II competition was auspicious, as he qualified for the collegiate national championships, and set a new national triple jump record (15.85m) all in 1999.
Well, that record is no more. At last weekend's Kroger Indoor Invitational, hosted by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, Dane cleared 16.21m (53'2.5") for the triple jump, ending second behind sensational George Mason freshman Allen Simms. Both men automatically qualified for this year's collegiate indoor championships, Dane achieving the necessary mark by ten centimetres. Last year, Dane won the NCAA Division II outdoor long jump championship, and he also had a career-best 7.8m (25'8") in that event. Last weekend he cleared 7.70m (25'3.25") to place fourth. He missed out on an automatic bid to the NCAA championships, but made the provisional mark.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
St. Lucia Names Davis Cup Squad
 (24 January 2001) - The St. Lucia Tennis Association has named five players to continue training for the group phase of this year's Davis Cup tournament. Three of the five are based overseas.
Kane Easter is likely to play number one for St. Lucia - in 1999 Easter graduated from Louisville University, having achieved two twenty-win seasons in Division I singles competition while at that school. He's currently working as a chemical engineer in Florida. Sirsean Arlain is a sophomore at Averett College in West Virginia, one of the top-ranked Division III schools in the United States. Before leaving for Averett last year, he was the number one ranked men's player in St. Lucia, and he only turned twenty this month.
Yves Sinson (photo) was number two before he, too, left St. Lucia for junior college in the United States. Sirsean's contemporary, the two came through the junior ranks together, excelling at the annual ITF/Coca Cola junior tournament and attending international camps together.
Current St. Lucian number one David Dauvergne may be a long shot to make the final cut, considering his age. David is in his mid-thirties, but he's consistent and very experienced. Gary Eugene is one of St. Lucia's finest-ever Davis Cup players. He came out of semi-retirement for Davis Cup trials last year, and was sufficiently impressive that he has been picked to play doubles, probably with Arlain and Sinson, assuming Sinson is on the final team.
In February, the SLTA will decide its four representatives to the American Zone Group IV competition in Haiti. They'll be playing in early March, on clay, and their fitness will certainly be tested. "We always look forward to playing teams like Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and so on," says Christopher Hunte, Public Relations Officer of the Association. This year, there's an added incentive to do well against the OECS, for whom St. Lucia's Glen James will be playing. Glen lives in Grenada.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
St. Lucia Amateur Volleyball Association
Calendar Of Events 2001
January
27-28: 2 on 2 Beach Volleyball The Wharf (formerly Waves)
February
17: Independence Open (to 3 March)
24: National Consultation
25: Independence 4-a- side Invitational
Beach Volleyball League (to August)
March
16-18: Under 20/Over 30 Tournament
25: Boat Ride
April
21: Scorers and Referees Day Clinic
28: National League (to 2 June)
June
SAP-Grass Roots Volleyball
July
15-19: Francophonie Games Beach Volleyball (Montreal, Canada)
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
St. Lucia's Johnson Wins In Reno
(21 January 2001) - Dominic Johnson, a double Olympian for St. Lucia, won the men's open section at the 2001 North American Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada. His clearance of 10' 7.5" (5.45m) was below his best (5.70m last year in el Paso, Texas) but Saturday's height was more than reasonable for Dominic's first competition of the 2001 indoor season.
The Pole Vault Summit attracted well over a thousand athletes from high school, college and the professional ranks. Competition for men and women was held in open and elite classes. There were also clinics and seminars featuring former world champions and Olympic medallists.
Dominic, a University of Arizona graduate, will travel to Europe in early February to begin a two-year training stint in Formia, Italy. There he'll be working with one of the world's premier vault coaches. Dominic, 25, is defending Central American and Caribbean men's vault champion.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
Windwards Lose. Again
(22 January 2001) - Lincoln Roberts hit an unbeaten 105 for Trinidad and Tobago against Windward Islands at Arnos Vale Playing Field to seize victory in their third-round Busta Cup 2001 first-class regional cricket match.
Earlier Windwards, having conceded a first innings lead of three runs, attained a score of 219 with wicketkeeper and former captain Junior Murray not out 97. That set TnT a score of 216, but with Roberts in fine form, the result was never in doubt on the fourth and final day, as the Trinbagonians made the required score for the loss of only five wickets.
The hapless Windwards have yet to gain a point in this tournament. Last year 's regional limited overs champions passed two hundred twice in this match after failing to do so in their previous four innings. If nobody sees the correlation between the performance of this team and that of the West Indies, we're in for a long hard ride.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
Smooth Sailing For Heinie Regatta
(22 January 2001) - The St. Lucia Sailing Club completed the 2001 Heineken Regatta on Sunday. With twenty yachts entered for the event, it was a pretty successful weekend for local sailing. Six of the nine foreign boats - including vessels from France and Germany - were from the recently completed Atlantic Rally For Cruisers.
German vessel Datomex, with skipper Jochen Stuegmes, won the overall title. A pair of St. Lucian yachts - Michael Green's Cider with Rosie and Dr. Andrew Richardson's Sheriken - were second and third.
Fair weather predominated the event, with just a hint of a storm off Pigeon Island Sunday morning.
As part of the Heineken Regatta, a special event was held for young sailors who've been training in dinghies. Josh Defreitas, in Optimist, won that event from some nine competitors.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
Williams, Auguste, WU Pull Out Tough Win
(21 January 2001) - The Washburn University Ichabods defeated the Missouri Western Griffons 82-73 Saturday evening at home in an NCAA Division II basketball encounter.
Forward Randolph Williams from St. Vincent and the Grenadines made a career-high 23 points on 8-15 shooting. He also benefited from 9 trips to the free throw line, six of which he converted. In 37 minutes, Williams also pulled down five rebounds, handed out four assists and collected four steals.
1999-2000 All-American Ewan Auguste of St. Lucia gave WU its first lead of the game at 24-22 with a 10-foot baseline jumper, but he took only six shots all game, hitting three of them in 24 minutes to end with nine points, four rebounds, a blocked shot and an assist.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
Pamenos Warms Up
 (20 January 2001) - Pamenos Ballantyne returned to winners' row in this weekend's TTUTA/M&M 10K road run in Trinidad and Tobago. The Vincentian runner skipped last year's race but Saturday he romped home to victory. In cool, overcast conditions, the 27-year-old athlete clocked 30 minutes, 41 seconds, securing an $800 payday, $500 for the win and $300 for finishing in less than 31 minutes. When Ballantyne bolted to the line, opposite Queen's Royal College, his closest rival, Cantius Thomas, was nowhere in site. Thomas clocked almost 33 minutes to claim second, ahead of third-placed Errol Williams.
On Sunday, the T&T Marathon beaver-trick champion will chase an unprecedented fifth straight triumph.
Men's results:
1.) Pamenos Ballantyne 30:41
2.) Cantius Thomas 32:59
3.) Errol "Baldhead" Williams 33:47
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ..
|
