COB athletes return home from Florida meet
The College of The Bahamas' track team returned home on Sunday after a successful trip to Florida this past weekend. Yanique Clarke continued her stellar performance in the 400 meters (m) as she out-ran the competition to a first place finish in 56.9 seconds. Two weeks ago, she finished first in the 400m at the Gibson Relays in Jamaica. The college's women's 4x100m team of Clarke, Colette Pickstock, Makiya Cargill and Shanika Riley, raced to a second place finish in a time of 49.56 seconds.


The Thunderbird's legacy continues
The late Rev. W. Gentry McPhee will always be synonymous with sloop sailing in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. He crafted the legend of 'The Thunderbird', the prolific A-Class regatta sloop. During the 1960s, The Thunderbird, out of Mangrove Cay, Andros, was the biggest name in sloop sailing. Of course, Rolly Gray's Tida Wave rose to the popularity of The Thunderbird, but those two boats more than any other have been the key brand names in the history of Bahamian workboat/sloop regattas. Other boats like the Good News and sailing heroes like the late skipper Hezron Moxey have risen to prominence for sure, but The Thunderbird and W.G. McPhee were trailblazers in promoting the sport.


Two swim well ahead of CARIFTA
Dionisio Carey, 12, and Dustin Tynes, 14, were the only two swimmers from The Bahamas to compete in the 2010 Florida Gold Coast Swimming Jr. Olympic Championships, from March 12-14, in Coral Springs, Florida. The meet featured over 600 of the top age-group swimmers from The Florida Gold Coast Swimming Inc. and was a short course yards meet. Each athlete is eligible to swim up to seven events if qualified. Both Carey and Tynes proved to be more then qualified. In his seven events, Carey was a perfect 7-for-7, winning every race before him. As a result, he won the meet's High Point award, by scoring a maximum of 77 points. In the process, he broke the meet and Open records for the 50-yard butterfly, in a time of 25.59 seconds.


GBPA makes presentation to marathon runner Boothe
FREEPORT, Grand Bahama — The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA) publicly presented a check to outstanding Bahamian athlete Delroy Boothe who recently captured the inaugural Marathon Bahamas International title. Making the presentation was Geneva Rutherford, Director of Community Relations for the GBPA. "It is an honor for us to recognize one of Grand Bahama's silent outstanding athletes. His humility and dedication touches us all," stated Rutherford.


Top players searching for answers
Two of the country's top female tennis players, Larikah Russell and Nikkita Fountain, are demanding answers from the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) executive members as to why they were cut from the Fed Cup team. According to Russell and Fountain, legitimate reasons were given to the BLTA executive board as to why they were unable to compete in the 2009 December Invitational, which is said to be a criteria for selection. If these reasons were accepted then, said Russell and Fountain, "why aren't their names included for the 2010 team." Team members listed on the association's website were Kerrie Cartwright, Simone Pratt and Gabrielle Moxey. The team is being coached by Paula Whitfield.


BSC season winds down
The second of the four pennants in the Baptist Sports Council's (BSC) 2010 Kendal Rolle Basketball Classic was decided on Saturday at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex as Macedonia clinched the regular season title in the men's vice president division. With a 40-29 decision over Bahamas Harvest, Macedonia improved their win/loss record to 4-0 as they joined Christian Tabernacle, who won the men's president division with a 4-0 record last Saturday. Still undecided is the pennant for the 19-and-under and 15-and-under divisions.


The individual gold at last
On Saturday, after he had won his first world championships individual gold medal, with the cameras on him, Chris Brown proudly pulled with both hands at his jersey, clearly displaying the name of his country, Bahamas. It was a proud moment in time for every Bahamian. Brown as is his demeanor, appeared very calm but it's a safe bet that deep down inside he was emotional. Firstly, as far as Brown would be concerned, he had brought his nation another international medal, a gold at that. For him, the win in Doha, Qatar finally cemented his place as one of the best open 400 meters runners in the last decade.


SAC wins all eight divisions at nationals
The St. Augustine's College (SAC) Big Red Machine dominated the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations' (BAAA) Scotiabank National High School Track and Field Championships, which wrapped up on Saturday at the Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium, as the school captured all eight divisions contested. Schools giving the Big Red Machine a fight for the various age group titles were the A.F. Adderley Tigers, the C.H. Reeves Raptors, the Queen's College Comets, the C.R. Walker Knights, the C.V. Bethel Stingrays and Zion Christian School. At the end of the three-day meet, the Big Red Machine proved to be too much for the other 47 schools from around The Bahamas.


Burnside breaks record and qualifies for World Juniors
If setting a new high school record, in the under-20 boys 400 meters (m) hurdles didn't rest well with Nejmi Burnside, then becoming the first junior to qualify for the 13th International Association of Athletic Federations' (IAAF) World Junior Championships might have done the trick. Burnside, who attacked every hurdle aggressively from the crack of the gun, crossed the finish line first in 53.31 seconds at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Scotiabank National High School Track and Field Championships, which wrapped up on Saturday at the Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium. He crushed the old record of 54.05 seconds, which was set by Carlyle Thompson in 2006.


Basketball challenge in memory of late ZNS sportscaster Phil Smith
The memory of the late Phil Smith is being kept alive by the Providence Basketball Club for the second consecutive year. Over the next four days, the club is slated to hold the second annual primary school boys basketball challenge at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. It got started yesterday and tournament organiser Kevin 'KJ' Johnson said he was quite impressed with what he has seen so far.


SAC captures all eight divisional titles
The St Augustine's College Big Red Machine have another reason to celebrate. While there was no overall champion crowned, the Big Red Machine captured all eight divisional titles at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations' Scotiabank National High School Track and Field Championships which concluded Saturday at Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium. SAC, fresh of their victory in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships two weeks ago, won by a considerable margin in all of the divisions.


Macedonia wins regular season title in men's vice president division
THE second of the four pennants in the Baptist Sports Council's 2010 Kendal Rolle Basketball Classic was decided Saturday at Baillou Hills Sporting Complex as Macedonia clinched the regular season title in the men's vice president division. With a 40-29 decision over Bahamas Harvest, Macedonia improved their win-loss record to 4-0 as they joined Christian Tabernacle, who won the men's president division with a 4-0 record last Saturday. Still undecided are the pennants for the 19-and-under and 15-and-under divisions.


'Fireman' burns up track at IAAF Indoor Championships
The third time around - along with a pair of different sneakers - turned out to be the charm for Chris "Fireman" Brown as he clinched his first IAAF World Indoor Championship title Saturday night, In Doha, Qatar, Brown secured the Bahamas' lone medal with his victory in the men's 400 metres in a season's best of 45.96 seconds. The race was full of drama, but Brown used his wealth of experience to take the lead and he avoided the clash that prevented pre-race favourites American Bershawn Jackson (sixth in 46.84) and Ireland's David Gillick (disqualified) for raining on his parade this time around.