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12 From OECS At Worlds
 (29 July 2001) - 2000 Olympic finalists Kim Collins (photo left) and Obadele Thompson are the most prominent athletes of over a dozen from Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States declared for the 8th International Amateur Athletics Federation's World Championships in Athletics. The Championships will be held 3-12 August in Edmonton, Canada.
Thompson (photo right), at the age of  25, last year became the first Olympic medallist from the island of Barbados, clocking 10.04 in Sydney to take bronze in the men's 100m. He was also fourth in the 200m. Thompson will be joined in Edmonton by Commonwealth women's 400m hurdles champion Andrea Blacket, and Central American and Caribbean men's 11m hurdles silver and bronze medallists Gabriel Burnett and Stephen Jones. June Caddle is the manager of the Barbados team, and Seibert Straughn the coach.
In Edmonton, Collins bids for another major championships final. The St. Kitts & Nevis 25-year-old was in the men's 100m final at Sydney 2000. Collins recently ran an OECS record 10.04 for the 100m, the first half of a sprint double at CAC Championships. OECS women's double sprint champion Valma Bass, a 27-year-old Louisiana State University graduate, is in Edmonton as well. Keith Heyliger leads the St. Kitts team. Collins' coach at Texas Christian University, Monte Stratton is also the St. Kitts coach.
Relatively unheralded in the women's sprints, St. Vincent and the Grenadines' Natasha Mayers has run 11.12 over 100m this year, an OECS record. Mayers is a 22-year-old student at Los Angeles Southwest Community College. The other athlete from SVG at Worlds will be 27-year-old Pamenos Ballantyne, probably contesting the men's marathon.
Yet another sprinter, Keita Cline represents the British Virgin Islands. Cline ran a national record 20.88 to claim men's 200m bronze at CAC, and he is an OECS champion. Reports from Antigua indicate that that territory will be represented by men's quarter-miler Kenmore Hughes and 22-year-old Sonia Williams, who has clocked 11.51 for the women's 100.
Anguilla will send Shyrone Hughes for the women's 400m. Hughes is a student at Lindenwood University in Missouri.
Breaking the sprints trend, St. Lucia will be represented by two-time CAC men's pole vault champion Dominic Johnson, a 26-year-old Arizona graduate. OECS record holder in his event, with a clearance of 5.70m, Johnson has been training in Italy under renowned coach Vitaly Petrov. OECS women's 1500m champion and Carifta bronze medallist Nessa Paul, an 18-year-old high school student, will join Johnson in Canada.
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More Silverware For WCFC
(29 July 2001) - Vibe CT105 W Connection FC is dominating football in Trinidad and Tobago, winning the first three trophies on offer. With the Charity Shield and L-Sporto President's Cup already under their belts, WCFC took the First Citizens Bank Cup on Friday evening with a 1-0 win over Caledonia AIA at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella.
The finishing of St. Lucia national captain Earl Jean was the story on the night. He headed home a minute after the half, after uncharacteristically, missing two earlier chances. Jean hit four goals in the tournament, winning the Office Center Golden Boot award. The stocky forward pushed his Professional Football League season tally to 11, best in the PFL.
"I was always confident I was going to score," said Jean. "I wanted the golden boots, so after missing twice before, I told myself not to let it happen a third time." Jean was voted the tournament's best striker.
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No Ordinary Guy
(29 July 2001) - Guy "Guy Love" Lawrence claimed the World Boxing Council's Continental America superlightweight title by unanimous decision from Benjamin "Tiger" Modeste in Castries, St. Lucia on Saturday. The first four rounds of this bout were fairly even, with the fighters even on all three scorecards. Lawrence, however, had the crowd behind him, and the long, lean boxer stuck to a well-crafted game plan against the muscular champion.
With chants of "We want Guy!" ringing in his ears, Lawrence bloodied Modeste's nose in the eighth round, sticking his left jab and going to a heavy right hook. The new champion took advantage of every Modeste miscue, holding off a desperate surge from his opponent in the final two rounds. It was a convincing win for the 33-year-old former Caribbean amateur champion. Once the announcement was made, Lawrence sank to his knees and had the belt strapped on by WBC commissioner Renato van Putten.
Also on Saturday night's card, Chris "Shaka" Henry took the WBC Caribbean welterweight belt (previously vacant) by beating Sherwin "Mauler" Marshall inside five rounds. The wily, watchful and stylish Henry hit several lovely combinations before knocking his opponent down in the fifth, just seconds before the referee stopped the contest at the midway point.
In a non-title match, Marcus Thomas showed off his championship credentials by dominating Julian "Thunder" Tannis in a middleweight bout scheduled for six rounds. The tall, powerful Thomas was quick and patient, getting a TKO eighteen seconds before the end of round two.
All three matches went to St. Lucian boxers, Henry and Thomas beating fighters from Barbados in their bouts, and Lawrence defeating his compatriot. Referee Harold Laurens from Curacao was the ring official for the Continental America fight, an assignment he handled impeccably. Chief judge George St. Aude and judge/referee Derrick Herbert were also flown in for this card, from Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados respectively.
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Spencer, Johnson Claim CAC Gold
 (22 July 2001) - One week after her world youth championship bronze, St. Lucian Lavern Spencer (photo left) won the women's high jump at the XVIII Central American and Caribbean Track and Field Championships in Guatemala on Saturday. Another St. Lucian, Dominic Johnson, successfully defended his men's pole vault title, albeit with a less than stellar clearance.
Dominic started vaulting only after all the other competitors had  crashed out. He jumped 5.20m (17 feet) to win; at 5.50m he was getting over the bar, but hitting it on the way down. The 25-year-old Arizona graduate cleared a CAC record 5.61m when the Championships were held in Barbados two years ago, so he was a bit disappointed with his latest effort. Still, with the World Athletics Championships just weeks away, he's raring to go.
Spencer took her second international gold medal and her fourth international medal overall this year, as she cleared 1.80m for the women's high jump title in Guatemala. The 17-year-old won the Carifta title with a meet record 1.79m, was the OECS silver medallist with a clearance of 1.75m, and her height of 1.81m for bronze at last week's World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary was a new national and OECS record.
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Visitors snatch 2001 BVI Open Tennis titles
By Dean H. Greenaway
(15 July 2001) - Fort Lauderdale's Fitzroy House and Grenada's Sylma Phillips used straight set wins over St. John's George Lewis and Antigua's H'Ann Johnson, to win the 2001 British Virgin Islands Open men's and women's titles at the Tortola Sports Club on Sunday.
"I didn't know I was going to get such a warm welcome and be #1 in this tournament," House told the Island Sun Sports after overcoming 2 seed George Lewis 6-2, 7-5 in the finals for $1,000 prize-money. House took Stedman Anthony 6-2, 6-3 in his opener, then turned back Tortola's Sheldon Walters 6-1, 6-2. Walters had beaten Anthony Caines of St. Kitts 6-1, 6-4 to advance to meet House. In the semis, House beat Antigua's Carl Johnson, 6-0, 6-1, before meeting Lewis in the final.
Sylma Phillips a former OECS champion who won the 1998 BVI Open, claimed the top prize after holding off 13-year-old H'Ann Johnson of Antigua 6-1, 6-3. Phillips, #1, advanced to the final with a 6-0, 6-0 win over #7 Sandra Parton of Tortola, and St. John's Fanella Cooper 6-2, 6-1. Cooper needed a three set 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 triumph over Tortola's Musonda Poole to advance. Poole opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Manuela Gianinazzi also of Tortola.
Phillips was impressed with her opponent. " Johnson is a bit young, but I think she played well throughout the tournament, until we met in the finals. She was my toughest opponent."
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Dominica, St. Lucia Records In Canada
(20 July 2001) - 25-year-old St. Lucian and University of North Florida junior Zepherinus Joseph lowered his national record for the men's 5000m run yesterday, at the Fourth Francophonie Games in Ottawa-Hull. Zepherinus was ninth. Athletes from Morocco took all three medals.
Zepherinus' time of 14:25.20 was the fastest by an Eastern Caribbean athlete this year. At the Penn Relays in April, Zepherinus ran the 5000 in 14:37.77, which broke his then two-year-old national record by five seconds. The Micoud Secondary and Central Arizona College alumnus will be contesting the men's 1500m run in Ottawa-Hull later this weekend.
Bill Kenneth John matched Dominica's two-year-old national record for the men's 100m, clocking 10.65 seconds to end last in round one, heat four. Canada's Bruny Surin clocked 10.30 to win that heat.
OECS results from the Fourth Francophonie Games in Ottawa-Hull
St. LUCIA
M 5000m - Zepherinus Joseph (9th) - 14:25.20 (NR)
W 100m - Jineill Vite (5th) - 12.18
W 200m - Jineill Vite (5th) - 25.20
M 200m - Nathan Justin (6th) - 22.18
M 400m - Nathan Justin (8th) - 50.32
M 1500m - Zepherinus Joseph (7th) - 3:52.36
DOMINICA
M 100m - Bill Kenneth John (7th) - 10.65 (NR)
M 200m - Bill Kenneth John (5th) - 21.73
M long jump - Fabien Paul Honore (7th) - 7.31m
W javelin - Catherine Stoute (11th) - 36.42m
W shot putt - Isabella Charles (14th) - 12.64m
NB: 5000m men, long jump men, javelin women and shot putt women are finals. All other results are from qualifying rounds.
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Collins Breaks OECS, CAC Records
(21 July 2001) - Kim Collins of St. Kitts won the men's 100m in a new meet and Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States record 10.04 seconds Friday at the XVIII Central American and Caribbean Track and Field Championships in Guatemala. Collins, a 100m finalist at last year's Summer Olympics in Sydney, had run 10.13 earlier this year. It was a Caribbean 1-2-3 in the men's 100, with Jamaica's Julien Dunkley (10:35) picking up silver and Trinidad and Tobago's Jacey Harper (10:39) bronze.
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Flavius Starts Hounds Rout
(21 July 2001) - The Pittsburgh Riverhounds took fourth place in the A League Northern Conference with a 5-2 win over the Montreal Impact in front of 2,748 fans. Riverhounds' St. Lucian forward David Flavius, assisted by Brazil's Welton, opened the scoring in the 10th minute. Montreal's Rocco Placentino and Niall Thompson scored, though, for a 2-1 halftime lead.
Pittsburgh came back strong after the interval, shutting Montreal out and netting four times. Ricardo Iribarren equalized in the 51st minute, Gary DePalma hit a 67th minute penalty and scored again in the 73rd. On for Flavius, Michael Apple hit his second goal this season in the 90th minute.
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WCFC Into FC Final
(23 July 2001) - On Friday, W Connection is going after its third successive title in Trinidad and Tobago football. Having won the opening Charity Cup and L-Sporto President's Cup, the First Citizens Cup is the only title WCFC has not registered a lien on since 1999. To win it, they'll have to beat Caledonian AIA.
WCFC beat former national champions Defence Force 6-2 on aggregate to get tot the FC final. Earl Jean, the St. Lucian international, caused the opposition no end of horrors with constant hard running. Defence Force took an early 1-0 lead, but Jean, just outside the six-metre box, knocked in a left-side pass away from Defence Force captain Hayden Thomas in the 23rd minute.
Another St. Lucian, winger Alvin Xavier beat the offside trap and slipped the ball to Luciano Sato who hit home. In the second period, Titus Elva came on as a sub and got his fair share of chances from compatriot Jean. Eventually, in the 63rd minute, Elva's flick found the back of the net.
In the first leg last Wednesday, Jean scored twice.
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Daddy Flavius Fires Hounds To US Quarters
(10 July 2001) - The Pittsburgh Riverhounds will take on one of their Major League Soccer affiliates - the Chicago Fire - in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The game takes place in Chicago 24 July.
The Hounds advanced to the next round of the prestigious tournament by beating the El Paso Patriots 2-1 Wednesday and the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer on June 27. St. Lucian forward David Flavius, whose wife gave birth to a daughter last week, opened the scoring in the first minute. Flavius buried a rebound past Patriots keeper Cesar Mata within seconds of the opening whistle.
Nine minutes later, the Hounds got a penalty, but Hounds captain Ricardo Iribarren missed the spot kick.
Pittsburgh got a second penalty kick in the 48th minute, midfielder Henry Gutierrez converting from 12 yards. With Wednesday's win, the Hounds earned the right to play the defending Open Cup champion. Pittsburgh is one of two A-League teams still in the tournament. The other is Richmond.
The Open Cup dates back to 1914 and is the oldest, annual team tournament in the country. The cup competition is open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the U.S.
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