Guyana recapture IGG Track and Field title

Oct 24, 2011 Sports

– also win Cycling Championships

By Edison Jefford in Suriname
Guyana’s junior national track and field team recaptured the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) title they lost to Suriname in French Guiana two years ago with sustained and timely dominance yesterday at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname.

The Guyana junior national track and field team and coaches celebrate re-taking the IGG athletics title at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium.

Guyana won the male and female competitions, amassing 351 points to win overall ahead of the defending champions, Suriname, which ended on 307 points. French Guiana finished third with 113 points accrued over two days of intense rivalry at the tri-nation event.
Earlier yesterday morning, Guyana also took the Cycling Championships with Raynauth Jeffrey pedalling to glory in the 40km Road Race. Guyana swept the race with its four male riders taking the top positions as Neil Reece finished second with Paul DeNobreiga third and Michael Anthony fourth.
Guyana’s male team had won the time-trials on Saturday. Naomi Singh and Marica Dick refused to be left out of the spoils, finishing in that order in the road race. The duo had placed second the day before in the team time-trials. However, yesterday, for the second occasion, no official times were available owed to official ratification, according to stewards.
Moments later, the momentum shifted to the track where Andrea Foster and Alexis Williams got Guyana off to the right start in the 3000m. Foster won in 12:14.32 with Williams placing second in 12:25.16 and Suriname’s Sefenia Gonsalves (12:35.38) third.
Nathaniel ‘Brother’ Giddings then made up for his 1500m bronze medal with an outstanding run in the 5000m, which got him to the top of the podium in 16:52.72. Suriname’s Clifton Befle was second in 17:33.81 with team-mate, Syverio Simison (17:37.27) third.
South American junior 400m bronze medallist, Stephan James picked up his second individual gold medal when he won the 200m ahead of local rival, Chavez Ageday. The two athletes made the small, but vocal, crowd ecstatic in a nail-biting encounter.

Guyana’s Ian Bagot and Adriel Moore rejects this attempted spike Saturday night in a major win for the junior male team.

James won in 22.64 using his speed on the turns to gain an early advantage over Ageday, held his form through the finish. Ageday was second in 22.84 seconds while Suriname’s Jeffrey Vanan was third in 23.15 seconds. Danille Clarke with a time of 25.51 overcame the challenge of Letitia Myles (26.58) and Tiffany Carto (26.96) in the female 200m sprint.
Guyana continued to pick up major points when Melissa Byass underlined the reason why there is an urgent need for an elite development programme for junior athletes. Byass proved her class with a gutsy win in the 800m ahead of two-time CARIFTA Games gold medallist, Jevina Straker in another thriller.
The fast-finishing Straker left Byass at the 600m mark after the two athletes had traded strides in a well-paced race. But Byass, who returned silver in the 400m on Saturday, followed Straker and overcame her lengthy strides with sheer strength and perfect technique. Byass eased to the finish line in 2:22.41 with Straker second in 2:23.74 and Suriname’s Genelva Diko (2:29.46) third.
Guyana’s momentum could have been seriously affected following controversy in the male 800m. Guyana’s Ernesto Thomas ran past Suriname’s Anton Bosoe on the finish line only to discover later that he did not win the race.
The management of the Guyana team protested the result, which was also overruled. Thomas had to settle for second in 2:04.04 while Bosoe got the gold with 2:03.76 with his team-mate Rochini Vorswijk (2:07.35) taking the other podium place available.
Shemeka Caesar was third in the Discus throw with 20.80m behind Suriname’s Vanessa Plak (30.06m) and Charissa Douglas (24.68m). Clarence Greene also placed third in the male Discus with 32.74m behind Suriname’s Quincy Sempai (40.62m) and Janique Pulles (33.90m).
Lisa Bowman won the female Shot Putt with 9.85m knocking Suriname’s Yamorimy Jubithana (9.64) into second place and French Guiana’s Riphna Champigny (9.20m) into third. Troy Lewis was second in the male Shot Putt with his 12.55m best throw.
The female athletes continued to hold their own in the field events, where Guyana is not strong, when Juanita Hooper sprang to a personal best 5.51m to in the Long Jump ahead of local rival, Alita Moore, who was second with 5.13m. Champigny was third with 4.97m.
Tevin Garraway was second in the male Long Jump with 6.76m as Suriname’s Quinte Pinas took that event with 6.77m. Miguel Van Assen was third with 6.12m. Guyana’s male and female 4x400m teams brought the curtains down on a successful outing for the junior national athletics team with emphatic victories.

Guyana’s successful IGG cycling team pose for a photo opportunity following their dominance in Suriname yesterday.

Volleyball
Meanwhile, Guyana’s male volleyball team downed French Guiana 25-22, 25-19, 8-25 and 25-23 Saturday night their first game of the competition. Up to Kaieteur Sport press time last night the team was expected to play Suriname in a virtual final of the competition.