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Johnson Among Four For CAC
(11 July 2001) - In 1999, Barbados hosted the Central American and Caribbean Track and Field Championships. With a team of 11 athletes, St. Lucia ended fifth from nearly thirty territories. Pole vaulter Dominic Johnson was one of two gold medallists, setting a CAC record for his event.
This year in El Salvador, 18-22 July, Johnson is back on the St. Lucia team, the only returning medallist. With a best height of 5.70m and consistent in Europe this season at 5.50m and above, Dominic should repeat as CAC champion. He set the CAC pole vault record at 5.61m two years ago.
Dane Magloire, a student at St. Augustine's College in North Carolina, will contest the triple jump in El Salvador. Earlier this year, the 2000 NCAA Division II long jump champ was ranked among the top 25 in the world for both long jump and triple jump. Magloire is just 26 years old. Carifta under-twenty girls' high jump champion and Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States bronze medallist, Lavern Spencer will join the team after contesting the World Youth Championships in Hungary. The 17-year-old high school student holds Carifta and OECS high jump records.
OECS men's 5000m champion and 1500m silver medallist, 26-year-old Jason Sayers is the fourth and final member of the national team. He'll be contesting both those events again in El Salvador. Phillip Best will accompany the team as manager, with Andrew Magloire as St. Lucia's Area Technical Officer.
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Dominica, St. Lucia For Franco Games
(11 July 2001) - They're called the Games of La Francophonie for a reason. Only two English-speaking Caribbean territories, each with a French flavour, will contest the Games (14-24 July) hosted by Ottawa-Hull. There's a cultural and sport component, and 1,800 athletes taking part in track and field, soccer, basketball, boxing, table tennis, judo, handisport and beach volleyball.
Along with their cultural representations, Dominica and St. Lucia are contesting track and field. Olympic gold medallists Bruny Surin and Glenroy Gilbert are on the Games' Organizing Committee. They are also competing, and track and field is expected to be a big part of the Games.
For Dominica, Isabella Charles will be throwing in women's shot putt and discus. She holds the women's national records for both events, and she took silver for the discus at last month's Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Track and Field Championships. Charles is 27 years old, but the rest of Dominica's team is fairly young. Long jumper and triple jumper Fabien Honore is 22, sprinter Bill John is 21, and Catherine Stoute is still a junior. Nineteen years old this year, she'll be throwing the javelin and triple jumping in Ottawa-Hull.
The Dominica and St. Lucia teams travelled to Canada this week. The track and field team for St. Lucia comprises OECS women's 1500m champion and Carifta 3000m silver medallist Nessa Paul; former NJCAA and University of North Florida distance runner Zepherinus Joseph; 19-year-old female sprinter Jineill Vite; and 21-year-old male sprinter Nathan Justin.
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New Ingredient In Piton Mix
(8 July 2001) - Last year, Gros Islet defeated five-time champions Central Castries by an innings and 101 runs in the Piton Beer Division I Inter-District cricket tournament final. It was the second consecutive title for the northern lads, led by record-breaking batsman John Eugene, who would go on to become Sportsman of the Year. After posting the best aggregate and average in tournament history, John joined the Windward Islands team that won the Red Stripe regional limited overs title. He was third-best scorer for the successful Windwards team.
Then came the questions. Last year's Gros Islet team was a veteran side. Eugene was one of several players at least 29 years old. Kent Crafton, twin brother of captain Alton, was injured in a freak accident a week after the final win. Promising young quick bowler Wendell Gustave appeared to be lackluster and a bit lazy. Then Gros Islet added under-nineteen national captain Sergio Fedee.
The young middle order batsman had yet to really come into his own at senior level, but he made important runs for the champions, none more so than when they faced Central Castries for the second year in a row. This time, the game was at Mindoo Philip Park, and Central came to defend home turf.
Put in to bat, though, Gros Islet accumulated runs apparently effortlessly. Fedee made a mature and polished 132, stroking 16 boundaries. Eugene smote 11 boundaries of his own, adding a quartet of sixes, before an unfortunate back drive proved his undoing. The ball glanced off Brian Stephen's hand and lifted the bails, with Eugene backing up and his personal score on 127. Crafton (Alton) had set the table with 55 runs, and Gros Islet made 428. Sheldon Thorpe took 6 wickets, but they came at the cost of 116 runs and the better part of two days.
Central began their reply poorly, losing Paul Remice to Roberts with the score on one. Under-nineteen wicketkeeper Gaspard Prospere struck an aggressive 30 before losing his wicket. He hit five fours before going. Fellow youngsters Esau Gabriel and Darren Sammy followed soon after, as did Gregg Wilson. Castries were 98 for 7 at stumps on day two. Their total of 216 owed everything to Stephen's return to Division I cricket. The 28-year-old lawyer hit an even 100 with 14 fours and three sixes, as young spinner Joakim George defended staunchly. Joseph Hall, last year's leading wicket-taker, captured four for 34.
Forced to follow on, Castries were again in early trouble, losing Prospere for just ten to a brilliant catch from Alvin Prospere off Hall. Wade Clovis and Wilson were next to go, but Thorpe and Remice committed themselves to at least saving the match. Those two stayed together till the end of the day, seeing Castries to 113 for three and a drawn match. Thorpe hit 51. It was all academic, though. Gros Islet had won their third Piton Beer championship in a row.
Next year, Fedee, Crafton, Eugene, Hall and Roberts could be defending their 2001 title at the Beausejour Oval. The Government of St. Lucia has said that the new facility will be ready by March of 2002, in plenty of time for another championship run, perhaps with another new ingredient or two.
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Levern For Youth Champs
(9 July 2001) - Levern Spencer will represent St. Lucia at the Second World Youth Track and Field Championships. The International Amateur Athletics Federation will host the 12-15 July meet in Debrecen, Hungary's second largest city. Athletes under the age of 18 are eligible for this competition.
Levern, 17, is Carifta high jump champion and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States record-holder. She travels to Europe as part of an OECS team. Federations from the nine-member sub-regional grouping opted to share the cost and technical staff for these Games, but full details of the team have not been publicized. Following the World Youth Games, Levern will be traveling to El Salvador, joining the St. Lucia team for the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Othe athletes qualifying for the Games but not chosen by the AAA include sprinter and high jumper Kenson Casimir, who runs under 11 seconds for the 100m and has cleared 2.00m for the high jump. The qualifying marks for those events are 11.4 seconds and 1.97 for men. Jumper Travis Joseph has also cleared 1.97m, and surpassed the mark of 14.10m for the triple jump.
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First Class Scotia Tennis
(9 July 2001) - Five years ago, Vernon Lewis and Sirsean Arlain used to play every day, the best player in St. Lucia passing his knowledge to an eager and precocious fifteen-year-old. Monday evening at Club St. Lucia, they had their first serious meeting, playing for the Scotiabank Open men's singles title.
Since 1996, Lewis had retired from active competition, sustaining a wrist injury during his 1999 comeback bid. Now 35 years old, he'd long fallen from his number one perch, satisfied with his position as tennis pro at Jalousie Hilton. Lewis came out of retirement to provide a challenge for Arlain, to see if the current number one was all he had been cracked up to be. With an easy Lucelec Open victory under his belt last month, Arlain was certainly the man to beat.
Each had breezed through his portion of the draw, and a curious crowd gathered to see whether this battle would live up to its potential. Early on, it appeared that Lewis would simply have his way with the younger man. The rallies, though, grew longer and longer, the ball moved more and more quickly, and it appeared that Arlain was prepared to at least fight back.
He conceded the first set 6-1, but early on in the second Arlain was giving as good as he got, except for one thing. Lewis had a cooler head. Both men were playing from the baseline, but Arlain kept going for winners. Unfortunately, his touch had abandoned him, and he over-hit as many as he sank into the net. As for Lewis, he played excellent tennis, but he also got every break possible. Time and again his returns dribbled over the net, with Arlain watching helplessly.
The final produced some fine tennis, and some tremendous points from both players. At 6-1, 6-0 it was not nearly as close as the doubles final. (Cameron Moffat and Alberton Richelieu Jr. beat Ron Blanchard and Jonathan Jn Baptiste 7-5, 6-3.) Lewis and Arlain were gripping, however. The latter showed that he is indeed first-class, but today Lewis reminded us he's in a class by himself.
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Tombstone Lose Vita Volleyball
(9 July 2001) - Tombstone's perfect season is a memory now. After winning six straight games in the men's northern division of the Vitamalt Volleyball League, Tombstone had a Sunday evening game against defending champions Ciceron Seagulls United. CSU had been beaten once by Tombstone already this season. Lying third in the League, they had had about enough of losing.
Early and often, CSU were hitting through Tombstone's usually strong defense. They also did what no other team has done consistently, shut down Jason Octave. The big hitter for Tombstone was ineffectual Sunday. As much as the team hustled and fought for points, CSU won fairly easily, 25-23, 28-26, 25-22.
The other big story from the Vita League was a win for the national combined schools under-nineteen team. Okay, it was just a set, but the boys played their hearts out, on defense in particular. That they eventually lost 23-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-14 to Jetsetters marks a big improvement for these youngsters.
Not doing nearly as well are the junior girls, who are still to win a set. Their latest 3-0 loss came against defending champions Ciceron Seagulls United, who beat them 25-13, 15-13, 25-9. Le Club Volleyball beat Jetsetters women 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 in the other match played Saturday evening.
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OECS At CAC Juvenile
(9 July 2001) - Grenada, St. Lucia and the British Virgin Islands were the three territories from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to take on the Central American and Caribbean Juvenile Championships in Freeport, Bahamas. The weekend meet saw the home team winning, Grenada sixth and St. Lucia 11th overall.
Davia James of St. Lucia broke the national juvenile long jump record, clearing 4.25m to take bronze in that event for 10-11 girls. She's a member of the Survivors Club. For the 60m, Niala Polius of St. Lucia clocked 8.77 to end eighth. Bahamas' Brittany Munnings won the high jump with a 1.44m clearance. James cleared 1.20m for 10th. James also was sixth in the 800m, clocking 2:47.3 for that event. In that age group, Munnings came first, with Grenada's Kizzia St. Clair sixth, James 11th, Bianca Dougan of the BVI in 14th and Polius coming in at the 15th spot from 23 athletes. Bahamas won the division, St. Lucia was fifth Grenada seventh and BVI ninth from twelve teams.
Among the boys, Mexico was the class of the competition, but the consistency of the Netherlands Antilles was key. Juan Ruruchacachi dominated for Mexico, Terence Agard held the fort for the Dutch. Raynard Alphonse was 8th overall for St. Lucia, Adrian Blondell 10th. Alphonse (8.73) was fourth in the 10-11 60m, Blondell (3:18.4) sixth in the 1000m. Netherlands Antilles won the division, St. Lucia fourth, BVI ninth.
In the girls' 12-13 division, it was Patricia Curry of the Bahamas in charge. She won the 80m with a time of 10.54 seconds, St. Lucia's Kylee Philip 9th in 11.23 seconds. For the 1000m, Nerisha Wells of Grenada came away with a win in 3:10.9, and Solange Pettit got St. Lucia's second bronze, running 3:21.6 for third. Bahamas won the division, the Grenadians were second, St. Lucia 9th.
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…And The Kitchen Sink
(9 July 2001) - Minus your tournament-leading scorer, it's hard to beat good teams. That's what Destroyers found out when they played Hellraisers in the latest round of the Guinness Canaries basketball competition.
Raisers won 78-53 behind 30 points from Chris Alexander, and a rounded contribution from Ain Albertini, who had 25 points, 16 rebounds. The highest scorer for Destroyers in Deanile Leonty's absence made only 14.
Storm stayed in the hunt behind league leaders Roadblock A, beating the Roadblock junior side 84-46. Tournament organizer and chief statistician Darvrille Jervis led Storm in scoring, rebounding, passing and steals. He scored 21, pulled down 13 boards, had five dishes and recorded a pair of steals.
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AFNA Netball Starts Well For St. Lucia
(9 July 2001) - The 2001 American Federation of Netball Associations' tournament has begun well for St. Lucia in Dominica. After an easy game against Bermuda, in which St. Lucia triumphed by a score of 91-26, the next team up was Barbados. Last year, when St. Lucia came second at the Caribbean championships, Barbados was missing. This time, St. Lucia beat them 61-58. Helina St. Marie hit 51/62 from the goal shoot position. Skipper Germaine Altifois made all seven of her shots. Monday morning, St. Lucia beat Dominica 65-47 to go three straight, St. Marie making 61-71 attempts on goal, Altifois 3-3 and Shem Maxwell 1-1.
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School Swimming Comes Off
(10 July 2001) - The first-ever schools swimming championships will come off Thursday, the only schools' event in which both primary and secondary students will compete. With athletes like Tiffany Antrobus, Safiya Paul, Analiese Beaubrun, Jacqueline Bergasse and more on their team, St. Joseph's Convent are women's favourites. The young men of St. Mary's College include Jonathan Calderon, the Worrell brothers, Frederick and Bradford, Robin Eames and Peter James. Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School features the likes of Marlon James, Kissie Palmer Martin, Natalie and Natasha George.
Most other schools only have one or two swimmers. The Combined Schools team comprises athletes from Vide Boutielle Secondary, the Seventh Day Academy, Entrepot Secondary, Sir Ira Simmons Secondary, Castries Comprehensive Secondary and Corinth Secondary. Della Louis Fernand and Andres Banus compete from Sir Arthur Lewis Community College.
The primary school competition is a bit more balanced. Camille Henry Memorial has John Henry Sweeny and his brother Frederick. The Beaubruns, Danielle and Christy, and the Defreitas', Adam and Josh, along with the outstanding Brittany Eames, are also on this team. Carmen Rene Memorial fields Zalika Paul, Jean Luc Augier, Roxanne and
Chelsea Foster. Bonne Terre Private School has Emma Dodd, Luis and Felix Meixner, Early and Brian Charlemagne, Meagan Palmer Martin and Mikela Devaux. The other private school, Tapion, will put Christian Wayne, Melissa Rivers, Mercedes and William Antrobus in the water. Chaz and Tganni Louisy, with Michael Louis Fernand, represent St. Aloysius Boy's R.C. Combined Schools also includes the Discovery School, Gros Islet Primary, Marchand Combined, Anglican Primary, Ave Maria Girls Primary and Montessori Centre.
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Lucians Off To Sobers International
(10 July 2001) - Two of St. Lucia's three junior Windward Islands cricketers are in a 16-member combined schools squad named to contest the Garfield Sobers International Schools Cricket Tournament, running till 27 July. 20 schools are participating in the ongoing competition in Barbados.
Sergio Fedee, the national under-nineteen captain, leads his young men for the final time. By his side will be fellow Windward Islander and last year's best wicketkeeper at Gary Sobers, Gaspard Prospere. Both are in fine form, coming from the Piton Beer Division I tournament.
Esau Gabriel and young Craig Emmanuel, the under-fifteen skipper, will be counted on for their batting, but the strength of this team will be the all-round ability of its players. The experienced Mon Repos spinner, Gairy Mathurin and Soufriere's Fabian Vigier have to do well with bat and ball.
The squad comprises under-nineteen and under-fifteen national players, as well as young men who did well in inter-secondary schools' competition. Chester Charles, Ervin Frederick, Peter Inglis, Mervin Peter, Alex Antoine, Glen Marius, Ian Ernest, Denzil Modeste, Isidore Tisson, Devaj Mangroop, Sherlon Isidore, Tommy Descartes and Tobie Edmund are all there.
Dennis Ryan is the team's manager, with former national captain Brian Calixte back in his usual role as coach. Fergus Louis of Corinth Secondary is the trainer for the national combined schools cricket team.
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