BLEDMAN, BAPTISTE IN MEDAL HUNT
McKnight sparkles with season’s best in 400m hurdles
By Kwame Laurence (T&T Express)
Published on Jul 21, 2015, 9:03 pm AST
Keston Bledman, center, of Trinidad and Tobago, wins his heat in the men's 100 meter run at
the Pan Am Games Tuesday, July 21, 2015, in Toronto. At left is Shavez Hart, of the Bahamas,
and at right is Darell Wesh, of Haiti. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)Trinidad and Tobago track stars, Keston Bledman and Kelly-Ann Baptiste produced solid performances yesterday to establish themselves as medal contenders at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.
Bledman won the third and final men’s 100 metres first round heat in a wind-aided 9.95 seconds to advance to today’s semifinal round as the fastest qualifier. American Remontay McClain was second in 9.99, while third spot went to Bahamian Shavez Hart (10.13).
The other T&T sprinter in the men’s century, Marcus Duncan finished seventh in heat two in a windy 10.52 seconds, and was eliminated. American BeeJay Lee won that heat in 9.99. Canadian Andre De Grasse, meanwhile, topped heat one in 10.06.
At 6.50 this evening, Bledman will run in the first semifinal heat. The final is scheduled for 8.50pm.
Baptiste emerged victorious in the opening women’s 100m heat in a wind-assisted 11.07 seconds. Her T&T teammate, Semoy Hackett was third in heat two in a season’s best 11.17. American Barbara Pierre won heat two in 10.92, while top spot in heat three went to Brazilian Claudia Ana Silva in a windy 10.96.
At 6.25pm today, Baptiste and Silva will clash in the opening semifinal. And at 6.32, Hackett and Pierre square off in the second semi. The championship race takes place at 8.30.
At 7.15pm, Sparkle McKnight faces the starter in the women’s 400m hurdles final. In yesterday’s qualifying round, the T&T athlete won heat one in a season’s best 56.56 seconds. Her main rival for the title will be American Shamier Little, the winner of heat two in 56.08.
Another T&T hurdler, Josanne Lucas was eliminated after finishing seventh in heat two in one minute, 00.30 seconds.
T&T’s Ayanna Alexander secured eighth spot in the women’s triple jump with a 13.83 metres effort. Colombians Caterine Ibarguen and Yosiry Urrutia earned gold and bronze, respectively. Ibarguen disturbed the sand at a wind-assisted 15.09m, while Urrutia jumped a windy 14.38m. Brazilian silver medallist Keila Costa produced a windy 14.50m effort.
Alena Brooks got home in 2:07.84 to finish fifth in heat one in the women’s 800m event. The clocking was not fast enough to earn the T&T halfmiler a “fastest loser” berth in the final.
Cleopatra Borel will bid for precious metal in today’s women’s shot put final, starting at 6.45pm. Deandra Daniel competes in the women’s high jump final from 10.05am. Janeil Bellille will be on show in the opening round of the women’s 400m. Machel Cedenio and Jarrin Solomon will run in the men’s 400m qualifying round. And Emanuel Mayers bids for a men’s 400m hurdles championship race berth.
T&T slumped to their third straight defeat in the men’s football tournament, going under 4-2 to Mexico, yesterday. Ricardo John scored in the seventh minute and Shackeil Henry netted in the 39th to earn T&T a 2-0 halftime lead. But Mexico battled back in the second period of play. Jorge Espericueta struck in the 60th minute, and Daniel Alvarez notched the equaliser in the 68th.
The Mexicans then netted two late goals to snatch victory. Marco Bueno found the target in the 90th minute, and Martin Zuniga put the icing on the cake in time added on.
T&T ended their Pool “B” campaign with three defeats in three outings.
At press time, last night, T&T’s hockey men were still locked in battle with Canada in a quarterfinal fixture.
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Bledman, Baptiste start Pan Am impressively
Published on Jul 21, 2015, 9:03 pm AST (T&T Newsday)
Keston Bledman (left) & Kelly-Ann Baptiste (right), T&T Senior 100m Champs 2015TRINIDAD AND Tobago’s medal count at the Pan Am Games is expected to increase significantly today, the second full day of competition in track and field at the Games in Toronto. Sprinters Keston Bledman and Kelly-Ann Baptiste, shot putter Cleopatra Borel and quarter-milers Machel Cedenio and Jarrin Solomon are expected to be in the spotlight contending.
Yesterday, Baptiste, Bledman and hurdler Sparkle Mc Knight led a strong showing by the national athletics contingent at the CIBC Pan Am Parapan Am Athletics Stadium.
Baptiste was the first TT athlete on the track, and she cruised in the Women’s 100 metres, winning Heat One in 11.07 seconds, ahead of Angela Tenorio of Ecuador (11.17) and Schillonie Calvert of Jamaica (11.27); Baptiste’s time would prove to be the fourth-fastest of the Women’s first round.
Semoy Hackett joined Baptiste in the semi-finals after finishing 3rd in Heat Two. Hackett clocked a season’s best 11.17 as she followed American Barbara Pierre (10.92) and Brazil’s Rosangela Santos (11.08) across the line.
Later, Keston Bledman ran the fastest time of the Men’s opening round, producing a blistering 9.95 seconds to win Heat Three from American Remontay Mc Clain (9.99) and Bahamian Shavez Hart (10.13).
However, Marcus Duncan failed to advance to the semi-final round, finishing 7th in Heat Two in a slow 10.52 seconds. American Beejay Lee won the heat in 9.99, with Barbadian Ramon Gittens (10.03) and Antoine Adams of St Kitts/Nevis (10.11) completing the top three.
Another TT athlete to impress was Sparkle Mc Knight, who won the first semi-final in the Women’s 400 metre Hurdles. Mc Knight clocked a season’s best of 56.56 seconds, finishing ahead of Mexico’s Zudikey Rodriguez (57.64) and Costa Rica’s Sharolyn Scott (57.76).
Josanne Lucas failed to advance from the other semi-final, finishing 7th in a disappointing time of one minute, 0.30 seconds. American Shamier Little was first in 56.08, followed by Canada’s Sarah Wells (56.77) and Cuba’s Zurian Hechavarria (56.82).
Today, the in-form Cleopatra Borel will bid for gold in the Women’s Shot Put Final; Deandra Daniel will also be in action in the final of the Women’s High Jump.
Janeil Bellille will be the first TT track athlete in action, running in lane two in the first of the Women’s 400 metre semis. In the Men’s 400 metres semis, Jarrin Solomon has been assigned lane eight in the first heat; Machel Cedenio, however, has been placed in lane three of the second.
In the absence of World Champion Jehue Gordon, Emmanuel Mayers will be TT’s lone entrant in the Men’s 400 metre Hurdles, running in the second of three heats.
Kelly-Ann Baptiste will run in lane three of the first Women’s 100 metre semi-final and Semoy Hackett has the same lane for Heat Two; Bledman will run in lane five of the first Men’s 100 metre semi-final. Both he and Baptiste will be expecting to be in their respective finals, which will be the last events on the day’s programme. Meanwhile, late in the day, the national Under-23 footballers ended their campaign at the Games with a heartbreaking 2-4 loss against Mexico, thus finishing with zero points from their three group matches.
Despite rumours that the team would not play because of a wage dispute with the TTFA, TT had a 2-0 lead on the Mexicans at half- time. Ricardo John put them in front after just seven minutes, and Shackiel Henry doubled the lead in the 39th. However, Mexico hit back twice in the space of eight minutes in the second half; Jorge Espericueta (60th) and substitute Daniel Alvarez (68th) drew them level, and another substitute, Marco Bueno completed the turnaround in the 90th minute, before Martin Zuniga added the final blow in stoppage time.
In other Pan Am events, last night the TT Men’s Hockey team was engaged in battle against the hosts, Canada, in the last of the quarter- finals.
