Smith begins hunt — Green, Riettie, Wilson mine gold

Ja lead CAC athletics with 18 medals

BY PAUL BURROWES Observer writer

Thursday, July 29, 2010

WORLD Championship decathlon silver medallist, 29-year-old Maurice Smith, begins his Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games two-day title hunt this morning at 8:15 on the penultimate day of athletics in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Smith will compete in the 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m on the first day, aware that Jamaica lead the athletics section of the CAC Games with 18 medals (seven gold, five silver and six bronze), ahead of Colombia and Mexico, 16 medals (both with five gold, four silver, seven bronze).

Wilbert Walker (men's triple jump final) and Aldwyn Sappleton (men's 800m final) will also be on show today as well as members of the women's and men's 4x100m relays semi-finals.

For the women, Jamaica will choose from Andrea Bliss, Yanique Booth, Samantha Henry, Audria Segree, Indira Spence, and Shanna Thomas, while the men will select their men's sprint relay quartet from Kenroy Anderson, Oshane Bailey, Lerone Clarke, Omar Douglas, Rasheed Dwyer and Jacques Harvey.

On Tuesday night, Leford Green, Nickiesha Wilson and Kateema Riettie added three more gold and Roxroy Cato a bronze, as Jamaica moved their medal tally to 32 to slide into sixth place at the 21st CAC Games.

Twenty-three-year-old Green clocked a personal best and championship record 48.47 seconds to win the 400m hurdles at the 13,000-seater Estadio Centro Americano de Mayagüez.

Green, who broke countryman Dinsdale Morgan previous championship record of 48.87 seconds set in Maracaibo, Venezuela on August 18, 1998, outran Puerto Rican Javier Culson, 48.58 seconds, and Cato, 49.62. Veteran Felix Sanchez, an Olympic and two-time world champion, placed fourth in a time of 50.08 seconds.

Wilson, 24, ran a season-best 55.40 seconds to capture the title in the women's equivalent, beating Mexican Zudikey Rodriguez, who took the silver in a personal best 55.54 seconds, with Trinidad & Tobago's Janeil Belleile grabbing the bronze in a personal best 56.81.

Thirty-seven-year-old Riettie clinched the javelin with a throw of 53.77 metres, getting the better of Dominican Republic's Fresa Nuñez, 52.96m, and Colombian Maria Murillo, 51.29m.

Jamaica now boast 12 gold, eight silver, and 12 bronze medals overall.

In women's hockey yesterday, Jamaica scored a late goal to clip Bermuda 1-0 at the Yldefonso Sola Morales Stadium in Caguas. Sheree Russell scored in the 62nd minute from a penalty corner. The ladies will play Guyana tomorrow morning at 10:30 for fifth place.

This morning at 8:00, the Jamaican men will play Puerto Rico in the fifth to eighth classification game.

In table tennis' singles matches yesterday morning Peter Moo Young defeated St Lucia's Omarie Ferdinand, 11-3, 11-8, 11-4 and Simon Tomlinson earned a walkover from Barbados' Robert Roberts as Joseph Dibbs, Kareem Flowers, Yvonne Foster, Kristen McKenzie, and Ashli Alexander lost their morning singles matches.

However, Moo Young and Tomlinson lost their evening matches to Guatemalan Jose Ramirez and Puerto Rican Daniel Gonzales, respectively.

Did you watch American football's Super Bowl on Sunday?
	Yes, but just for the advertisements
	Yes, just for the game itself
	Yes, for both the game and advertisements
	No, I did not watch the Super Bowl.

View Results
Results published weekly in Sunday Finance

Username:
Password: