Campbell just misses CAC medal

NATIONAL cyclist Teneil Campbell just missed out on a medal in the women’s individual time trial yesterday at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Campbell finished the 21.2km event in fourth place in 29 minutes, 13.17 seconds (29:13.17), missing out on a medal by seven seconds. Colombian Serika Ortiz Guluma grabbed third spot in 29:06.28 behind her compatriot Ana Sanabria who took silver in 28:41.54. Arlenis Sierra of Cuba comfortably won gold with a time of 28:08.97. Alexi Costa also represented TT in the event, finishing 10th in 32:05.73.

It has not been a smooth ride for TT cyclists since arriving in Colombia.

On Facebook TT on Thursday, cycling administrator Ronald Dickie said, “Could someone tell me why my Trinidad and Tobago cyclists have no rooms to sleep in at CAC games. We have cyclist racing tomorrow and have nowhere to sleep. How are we to get the medals you want Trinidad. Be strong Njisane Jus-amazing Phillip keep the team strong. Erin Hartwell (TT technical staff member) sorry.” Hartwell, who boasts over three decades of experience at the elite international level as a rider and administrator, said this is the first time he has encountered such difficulties and explained the issue seems to have stemmed from the CAC Local Organising Committee.

TT swimmer Dylan Carter yesterday advanced to the final of the men’s 100m freestyle final. Carter won heat six in 49.24 seconds, ahead of Venezuelan Alberto Mestre in 49.69 and Jhonny Perez of Dominican Republic in 51.19. TT’s Joshua Romany placed fourth in 51.26 and did not advance. Carter had a great chance to medal in the final last night as he had the second fastest time going into the race.

Lining up in the men’s 200m butterfly event, 18 year old Kael Yorke was fifth in heat one in 2:06.07. His time was enough to progress to the B final which was held after press time last night.

The TT women’s hockey team got off to an excellent start, crushing Guatemala 12-0 in their opening match. Dana-Lee De Gannes led the way for TT with a beaver trick, getting goals in the 1st, 3rd, 33rd and 60th minutes. Brianna Govia (6th, 32nd), Shaniah De Freitas (41st, 54th), Gabrielle Thompson (37th, 55th) all scored twice, and Felicia King (32nd) and Kimberley Young (17th) netted one apiece.

The TT women’s table tennis players continued to have a tough time, falling 3-1 to Colombia in the women’s team competition, with Rheann Chung being the only winner for TT yet again. She remains unbeaten in Colombia but TT are yet to win.

Chung defeated Luisa Zuluaga 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 14-12. In other singles matches, Colombia’s Paula Medina got past Brittany Joseph 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 and Medina also outlasted Catherine Spicer 11-3, 11-7, 11-5. In the lone doubles contest, Zuluaga and Manuela Echeverry got past the TT pair 11-5, 11-5, 11-8. With the loss, TT did not advance to the quarter-finals.

In football, the men’s Under-20 got off to a losing start, falling 2-0 to Honduras. First half goals by Denil Maldonado (31st) and Sendel Eduardo Cruz (41st) gave Honduras the victory in the round one group A encounter.

The TT women’s volleyballers let a strong start slip against Puerto Rico in a preliminary pool B match. After winning the first set 25-19, TT lost the next three sets 17-25, 16-25, 20-25.