BVI Quartet Improves 4x100m Relay National Record

April 27, 2016 by

By BVI Athletics Association

Karene King, left, Chantel Malone,Tahesia Harrigan-Scott and Ashley Kelly. Photo: Annabelle Skelton-Malone

Karene King, left, Chantel Malone,Tahesia Harrigan-Scott and Ashley Kelly. Photo: Annabelle Skelton-Malone

Running together for the first time since 2013, the BVI’s quartet of Ashley Kelly, Tahesia Harrigan-Scott, Chantel Malone and Karene King, broke their six year old 4 x 100m Relay National Record at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic in Gainesville, Fla., on Friday.

In placing second, the quartet had a time of 44.05 seconds, to erase the 44.34 mark they established in 2010 on home soil, in beating St, Kitts-Nevis, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) record holders. Their mark is the third best ever recorded by an OECS squad behind St. Kitts-Nevis’ 43.52 and 43.98 from 2009.

They will line up at the Penn Relays on Saturday in the USA vs Rest of the World.

In individual competition, Malone won the Long Jump with a leap of 6.43m, while Harrigan-Scott had a season’s best of 11.34 seconds in the 100m. Kelly lowered her five-year old 100m best from 11.61 seconds to 11.58, and moved from No. 5 to No. 3 on the territory’s All Time List. King ran her 200m in 23.97.

St. Augustine’s Jr. Khari Herbert, was second in the CIAA Conference Championships 400m with a season’s best 46.95 seconds, after advancing with 47.17. He anchored the 4x400m Relay to a second place finish in 3 minutes, 12.39 seconds in helping retain the conference title with 203 points.

At the Triton Invitational in San Diego, twin sisters and Central Arizona sophomores Tynelle and Trevia Gumbs, had marks of 50.18m and 47.58m respectively in the Hammer Throw on Friday. Tynelle then threw the Discus 39.83m and Trevia, 39.69m. In Saturday’s action, Tynelle had a disappointing mark of 34.05m in the Javelin while Trevia recorded a season’s best of 13.48m in the Open Shot Put.

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Terry Evans Cup Reaches Semi-Final Stages

April 26, 2016 by
Photo courtesy of BVIFA

Photo courtesy of BVIFA

By BVIFA

The Sugar Boys will play Old Madrid in the semi finals of the Terry Evans Cup, after both secured wins on Sunday in their respective quarter final ties against Haitian Stars and the Panthers F.C.

That game will be the second semi final to be played on Sunday 1st May, 2016, at 6.00pm, on the A.O. Shirley Ground and the winner will know their opponent after the Islanders face VG United in the first game of the day at 4.00pm

Old Madrid and the Panthers slugged it out over 90 minutes of ebbing and flowing football, with both sides creating chances to win the game, but ultimately running out of time and ending up facing a dreaded Penalty Shoot Out.

That Shoot Out went right through 18 spot kicks of various style and skill until the Panthers finally lost their nerve and fired kick number 19 high over the cross bar to concede defeat, 8-7.

The Sugar Boys used a goal from Michael Castillo right after the half time break to overcome the Haitian Stars, 2-1, to complete the semi final line up.

Derol Redhead’s 11th minute opener was cancelled out by Michael Bapticham’s 25th minute equalizer for the Stars who were making a return to competitive football after a two year absence.

In Women’s Football, The Panthers overcame the Avengers, 6-1 to secure a place in the May 8th Final against the Ballstars, with a hatrick from Sapphire Flax, a brace from Jacinta Weekes and a solo effort from Christine Jackson.

Makeda Fahie scored a consolation for the Avengers.

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: ,

BVIFA Launch 2016 Digicel Centre of Excellence

April 26, 2016 by
Photo courtesy of BVIFA

Photo courtesy of BVIFA

By BVIFA

A rain swept Saturday did little to deter hundreds of boys and girls from coming out to the A.O. Shirley Ground on Saturday 23rd April, 2016, as the F.A. launched the Digicel Centre of Excellence.

“This Centre of Excellence is designed to give all the Youths selected a safe and happy environment in which to learn and is designed to provide you with a place to showcase your talents, whilst developing new skills” commented Avanell Morton, F.A. Executive Member responsible for Youth Development.

On behalf of Digicel, Katasha Melville, who was on hand to deliver the branded shirts for the players, stated “Digicel is always behind sports and it’s great to have all the boys and girls here to be given such an excellent opportunity to improve their skills”.

Angelique Kanhai, who was in the Territory visiting the new Stadium site encouraged the Youngsters to carry on working hard “I see you are all very dedicated to come out in this rain and weather, and I’m looking forward to seeing how you all perform if selected for the National Teams”.

F.A. President, Mr. Andy Bickerton concluded the brief ceremony with thanks to Digicel as well as explaining how the Centre of Excellence fits into the development process. “It’s great to have the support of Digicel for this programme, as everyone knows we have over 1000 young people participating in our after schools programme and this is another stage in our player pathway from Grassroots to National Representative teams. The Association is very committed to looking after our youths and create opportunities for you all.”

The Digicel Centre of Excellence will continue every Saturday for Boys and Girls both from Tortola and Virgin Gorda.

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: ,

Spike Wins 2016 Governor’s Cup

April 26, 2016 by
GovernorsCup2016

Photo by RBVIYC

By RBVIYC

J111 Spike, skippered by Sam Talbot won the 2016 Governor’s Cup on Saturday 23 April.

Twelve boats took to the race course to duke it out for the honour of adding their name to the Governor’s Cup trophy.   A gloomy morning greeted the competitors but despite the promise of a wet day, the rain held off the race track.  Starting off Nanny Cay, the course took competitors out to Pelican Island, up round Dead Chest Island, across to Hog Valley Green just off Road Harbour and then back to finish at Nanny Cay.

Racing was tight in all of the fleets with the Jib and Main class even offering up a photo finish after three and half hours of racing.  Line honours went toSpike with an elapsed time of just over 2 hours.

First to start were the Jib and Main class with Kara Patterson, helming Dances with Whales leading the fleet across the start line.  Class line honours and the overall prize went to Bill Hirst with his new Jeanneau 51, Adagio.  Pyjamas, Wicked Winch and Dances with Whales all finished within two minutes of each other with Wicked Winch claiming second on corrected time and Dances with Whales third.

Next to go were the Performance Cruisers and Multihull classes, starting at 11:20 followed by the Racing class 15 minutes later.   John Cook’s Tatonkawas first home, with an elapsed time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 4 seconds, followed by Girasoli and Steve Roose with Diva.  The class win went to Keith LiGreci’s Girasoli with Tatonka second and Diva third.

The only multihull in the action was John Hayes’ Wildfire who finished eighth overall.

Spike, skippered by Sam Talbot charged around the course to claimed line honours and the overall win. Chris Haycraft’s Pipe Dream took second in class and third overall, just 26 seconds behind Girasoli. Third in racing was Aaron Gardner with his IC24 Bravissimo, also finishing in fourth overall.  Melges 24 Firewater rounded out the racing fleet in fourth.

Governor John Duncan presented the prizes at Nanny Cay, congratulating all the competitors for a great day on the water.

Thank you to our sponsors, Champagne Bollinger, TICO and Nanny Cay; to the race committee and all of the competitors.

The next event on the Royal BVI Yacht Club racing calendar is the BVI Dinghy Championships on 21 and 22 May.

Results Overall
Position – Boat – Skipper – Corrected Time
1. Spike – Sam Talbot – 2:00:42
2. Girasoli – Keith Li Greci – 2:05:00
3. Pipe Dream – Chris Haycraft – 2:05:26
4. Bravissimo – Aaron Gardner – 2:06:42
5. Tatonka – John Cook – 2:11:12
6. Diva – Steve Roose – 2:23:19
7. Firewater – Henry Leonig – 2:32:44
8. Wildfire – John Hayes – 2:36:14
9. Adagio – Bill Hirst – 2:40:37
10. Wicked Winch – David Lake Jr – 2:40:47
11. Dances with Whales – Todd Patterson – 2:43:22
12. Pyjamas – Mark Dobson – 2:47:29

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With:

VI Rugby XV overcome visiting USVI team

April 25, 2016 by

By VINO

Photo: Todd VanSickle/BVI Beacon

Photo: Todd VanSickle/BVI Beacon

In a game not for the faint of heart, the local Rugby Union XV finally overcame The Privateers, a visiting team from St Thomas, USVI 34-22, in a friendly match on Saturday April 23, 2016 at the A.O. Shirley Recreation Ground, Tortola.

A brace of tries from Noel Maxwell finally broke the resistance, if not the determination, of the visitors as he scored either side of the half time break. However, for the majority of the first period the St Thomas team had been in the ascendancy, looking more organised and eager to tackle hard at every opportunity.

They had, in fact, raced into a 12-0 lead, scoring first after a series of recycled ball and rolling mauls along the home sides score line and then intercepting a sloppy pass as the VI team tried to clear the ball out of their own 22 to double their advantage.

With many new players in the team, it took a while for things to gel for the hosts, but Luuck Soeters finally got the home team on the score board, sliding in under the posts after a great placement kick from Roan Thornton put them within a yard of the opposition’s score line. Thornton missed the attempted extra points for a conversion, but moment’s later more concerted pressure, especially after showing great strength in the scrum, saw the VI score again through Stuart Cullen.

Maxwell then scored his two tries either side of a St Thomas penalty to make it 22-15 and a Mark Simmons conversion made it 24-15.

A scintillating run by Franklyn Victor, from deep inside his own half, made it 29-15 and although Simmons missed that conversion attempt, it mattered not as Tom Chapman broke through the St Thomas defense to score another try and make it 34-15.

St Thomas did get a late consolation score, but resolute defending made sure they could not get back into the game, with the final score 34-22.

“We started a bit jittery and took time to settle down,” commented Coach Sherlock Solomon. “Some of the players were late, but once the right team was on the pitch they found their footing and put it together. We exposed lots of our younger players so they would get experience playing at this level and under pressure, some lost their cool at times, but overall they all played well.”

Filed Under: Rugby Tagged With: , , ,

Cedar & St George’s win Touch Rugby Championships

April 25, 2016 by

By VINO

Photo: Charlie E. Jackson /VINO

Photo: Charlie E. Jackson /VINO

Both Cedar International School and St George’s High School were victorious when the BVI Rugby Union hosted the U15 and U17 Touch Rugby High School Championships on Friday April 22, 2016 on the A.O. Shirley Recreation Grounds in Road Town.

In the U15’s final, St George’s raced into a 2-0 lead, but were then pegged back by a tenacious Seventh Day Adventist team. However, despite some nervous moments, St George’s held firm and increased the lead to first 3-1, before holding on to win 4-3.

“In the lead up to the final we only had one little hiccup, but otherwise were looking good. The final was a little challenging, but we stood firm and got the win. We had both disciplined and fast breaks and the team executed the plans very well, so I must congratulate them,” commented St George’s Coach, Javon Carty.

On the road to the final, SDA beat Cedar School 9-2, St George’s beat ESHS 10-2 and Cedar 5-4, whilst SDA beat ESHS 10-1.

In the Under 17 final, Cedar survived a second-half come back from St George’s to run out 7-5 victors, which was almost a reversal of the score line from when the pair clashed in the day’s opening game (7-6 to St George’s).

“We kept our shape well and were well organised. The team kept their heads and knew when to move the ball, using the extra width to cause St George’s trouble and came out with the win,” noted Coach John Riley.

Cedar had also beaten ESHS 7-2 to clinch a place in the final, while St George’s had a 5-2 win over the same opposition.

BVI Rugby Union Development Coach, Sherlock Solomon, was very pleased with the day’s outcome. “The idea of using the bigger pitch area has proven a great success, we saw all the teams enjoy the extra space to pass the ball around more and also add some running skills,” he said.

Filed Under: Rugby Tagged With:

Senseman Sensational In KPMG Tortola Torture Record Run

April 25, 2016 by

By Dean ‘The Sportsman” Greenaway

The day dawns on KPMG Tortola Torture runners. Photo: Todd VanSickle/Tortola Torture

The day dawns on KPMG Tortola Torture runners. Photo: Todd VanSickle/Tortola Torture

When Eric Senseman of Denver, Colorado toured the 33.4 miles KPMG Tortola Torture Ultra Marathon course – including climbs up Windy Hill to the 1528 foot turn around at Sage Mountain parking lot, then the descent through Brewers Bay and over Ridge Road to Beef Island including Little Mountain and finishing at Loose Mongoose – he figured he could do it in about five hours.

Despite dropping the Cane Garden Bay Hill climb from last year’s inaugural event, organizers added two miles and 500 feet of elevation with the inclusion of the Sage Mountain trek. Halfway through the grueling run on April 16, Senseman adjusted the time by 15 minutes, then went out and had the fastest split over every segment of the course-including 26 minutes and 29 seconds from the base of Windy Hill to Sage Mountain – and a 32:04 descent from Sage to Brewers Bay, en route to an overall 4 hours 45 minutes and 05 seconds time.

Virgin Gorda resident, Vincent Fournier was second in 5:24.03 and last year’s winner, St. Croix’s Bridget Klein – the first woman overall – was third in 5:38.55 as the only three under six hours.

While he made it look easy, Sensman said it was a difficult race. “Beautiful for sure, which made it easier to deal with the difficulty,” he said. “Initially I said five hours after touring the course but during the race, I said 4:45, when I was halfway through and I realized I was doing better than expected. I’ve run 20 Ultra Marathons and probably 80 races shorter than a Marathon, which is to say, I have a lot of experience with different terrain, distances and with my own fitness, how training has gone-all that matters in how you figure out how fast you can run.”

He said after driving the course and noticing the first 13 miles was flat with small inclines, he figured he could run a 7-minute mile pace and 10 minutes for the final 18 miles. He said on the basis of past results and his fitness he determined the five-hour goal.

“I was a bit conservative. It’s hot, difficult to deal with and I don’t train in heat so that was an ex factor to deal with it was hard to say, but, it went well,” he pointed out. “I kept my body temperature down, lots of water and ice over the head and that allowed me to stay cool and run a good pace.”

Event organizer Richard Morgan said it was a phenomenal race and it went better than he could ever imagine. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” he stated. “We had views of St. Croix today and you could see Puerto Rico running along Soldier Hill. Everyone’s still smiling and that’s the main thing.”

He added: “The crazy thing is, when we asked Eric to come down, he had to ask his coach and his coach said yes, but, you’re not allowed to run at full speed because its mid season and he has other races to do and this was an add on. This was like a training run for him,” Morgan said.

“I’m going to try and get him down next year and get him to run at full speed. I think he can go 4:15.”

Fournier said the race was fun, but long. “What I found about it is that I’m used to doing all these smaller races and you get your heart pumping in all the small races but in this one, I was never really out of breath, but at some point my legs were just dead,” he noted. “I could talk and say hello to people but my legs were like totally dead. The toughest past had to be going down into Brewers Bay, because going down holding the weight just kills my legs. That was the hardest part for me. After that, going uphill was fine.”

Klein described the race as being ‘tougher than last year.’ “I’m not going to lie,” she said. “The addition of Sage Mountain and the beach finish definitely adds a little more to the race so it was definitely harder, but, it was fun,” she said, noting that she had a goal in mind. “But once I got out there and realize what the additions were going to add, I said forget it, keep running and have fun and we’ll see when we get done. The course is beautiful, really big up which makes the downhill even more once you get to it, because that’s definitely the hardest downhill of the course. But, its hard race for sure.”

In the team category, the trio of Michael “MIkey” Ennis – who replaced Anna Kinkead – defended their title with Mike Killhoury and Julius Farley, finishing in 5:03.24. The 2-man squad of Guy Williamson and Roddy Dos Santos was the fastest of their group in 5:12.19.

Top finishers:
Men: 1. Eric Senseman, 4 hours, 45 minutes and 05 seconds. 2. Vincent Fournier, 5:24.03.3. Simon Cook, 6:25.55. 4. Sean Blanton, 6:29.14. 5. Mike Klein, 6:40.18.

Women: 1. Bridget Klein, 5:38.55. 2. Claudia Ferrari, 6:33.10. 3. Judy Haycraft, 7:24.11.

Event Photos Full Results

 

Filed Under: Athletics Tagged With: , , ,

BVI Junior Squash players pick up trophies.

April 20, 2016 by

By BVI Squash Rackets Association

Junior BVI Squash team competed in the 2016 OECS Junior Squash tournament hosted in the BVI April 15 - 17. Photo: BVISRA

Junior BVI Squash team competed in the 2016 OECS Junior Squash tournament hosted in the BVI April 15 – 17. Photo: BVISRA

Some thrilling Junior squash was played over the weekend at the Tortola Sports Club. Juniors from Tortola battled it out with arch rival players from St. Vincent for OECS (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States) honors and also for prestigious places on the OECS Junior squash team which will head to Cayman in late July for the week-long Caribbean-wide Junior Squash Championships.

Games were fast and furious and provided fans with thrills and spills (literally in some matches) throughout the two day event.

Head coach and previous #10 Men’s Squash Player in the world, Joe Faragher-Kneipp was pleased with the results of BVI’s 12-strong team. He specifically mentioned his rookies, RJ Wong, Tai Thomas, Jake Hallet, Gethin Jones, Stephan Weyers and Lawton Green who played well throughout – “these kids continue to improve and I look forward to seeing them next year during this tournament with a full year of training in hand,” said Joe.

Kirstin Gordon lost a close match that went the full distance to 5 games against Jada Ross of St. Vincent in the U19 Girls Finals. “Her deft drop shot abandoned her in the final. Otherwise it could have just as easily been a 3 game victory sweep for Kirstin,” remarked one young fan.

Brooms were out in the U11 girls category as Darci Reich managed to defend her U11 title against new-comer, Nadira Morgan of St. Vincent in a 3-game sweep. “Her service game was solid and as consistent as a Steph Curry 3 pointer,” remarked one official. “If she was nervous, she did not show it!” Both girls displayed great sportsmanship with smiles throughout the final and, unsurprisingly, it was the St. Vincentian who managed to grab the Sportsmanship award for the tournament – an award that Darci had proudly won in St. Vincent in 2015.

The U11 boys bracket was a close affair also between two Cedar students with 2nd year squash player, Alex Fountain out-pacing Tai Thomas in a tough match that also left supporters talking about a strong future pipeline of squash players.

The U13 boys bracket saw fans torn between fan favorites, Luca Reich (defending champion) and Jasper Forte. The two Cedar boys are both part of the Squash Elective program at Cedar and managed to put on a terrific show for the fans with terrific shot making. Rallies consistently featured electrifying shots and left the fans gasping and cheering on several occasions. Games were close and saw both players displaying early nerves (perhaps as a result of the huge crowd on hand). It was veteran, Luca with steely nerves who managed to squeak out a much deserved win.

Prior to the tournament Luca spoke to sports journalists about Jasper’s continued improvement since last year’s tournament. “He is an up and coming player who will no doubt be a contender for future titles,” remarked Luca. “Without a doubt he is the most improved player in the BVI.”

Tournament officials agreed with his sentiments and awarded Jasper with the ‘Most Improved Squash Player’ award beating out several deserving contenders from both teams. It was Stephan Weyers that would bring home the third place trophy in this tough age group.

Leo Forte brought home a much deserved 3rd place trophy in the U17 boys bracket. His third place showing in the tournament a reflection of the tough competition and high standard of play in that bracket by the St. Vincent team. One of his competitors, Kai Bentick is seeded #2 in the Caribbean and won the U17 bracket.

One fan noted that “It is a function of the fact that Kai focuses his attention mainly on squash while Leo spends considerable time also playing his much loved football”.

Places for the OECS team were not announced at time of this press release. For anyone interested in learning the game of squash please contact Joe Kneipp at the Tortola Sports Club.

Filed Under: Squash Tagged With: , , , ,

Team BVI cruz onto the podium in St Croix

April 20, 2016 by

By RBVIYC

BVI Optimist sailors at the 2016 St Croix Yacht Club Crucian Open. Photo: RBVIYC

BVI Optimist sailors at the 2016 St Croix Yacht Club Crucian Open. Photo: RBVIYC

7 Optimist sailors from the Royal BVI Yacht Club traveled to St Croix April 16 -17 to compete in the 2016 St Croix Yacht Club Crucian Open with all 4 of the Championship fleet sailors reaching the podium in their divisions.

The regatta hosted 72 competitors racing in the 420, Sunfish and Optimist classes on Saturday and Sunday.

Unpredictable 2-7 knot southerly winds brought light and shifty conditions that challenged the competitor’s patience but all of the RBVIYC racers finished well in their respective fleets.

In the 24 boat Championship fleet, Ryan Lettsome finished 21st overall, winning third place in the Under 10, White fleet.

In the Blue fleet for the 11-12 age group, Nathan Haycraft took second place and seventh overall, with Kyle Roose placing third in group and twelfth overall.

Rayne Duff held the lead after the first day of racing with 3, first place finishes under his belt and never finishing outside the top three. A less successful day two saw him drop to second overall but retaining the Red fleet honours in the 13-15 age group.

Samuel Allen was top of the pack for the BVI Green fleeters, finishing fifth overall. A consistent weekend for Allen included 2 second place finishes and just one result outside the top 10. Noah George made a blistering start to his regatta with third place in the first two races of the weekend. Not quite able to maintain that level, he continued to finish inside the top half of the fleet throughout and ended his regatta in eighth overall.

A solid first day for Nici Haycraft saw him take the race win in race 7 but, sitting out Sunday, he slid to 15 overall.

A great weekend for the RBVIYC junior sailing programme and congratulations to the team on another excellent regatta.

Results
Blue Fleet
2 Nathan Haycraft (7 overall)
3 Kyle Roose (12 overall)

Red Fleet
1 Rayne Duff (2 overall)

White Fleet
3 Ryan Lettsome (21 overall)

Green Fleet
5 Samuel Allen
8 Noah George
15 Nici Haycraft

http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/12278#_newsroom+results

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With: , , ,

Hat-tricks for Creque & Albert as BVIFA opens new season

April 20, 2016 by

By VINO

Morgan Creque (purple 3) scored a hat trick for the Ballstars in a 6-0 win over VG United. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

Morgan Creque (purple 3) scored a hat trick for the Ballstars in a 6-0 win over VG United. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

Hat-tricks in both Ladies and Men’s games highlighted the opening weekend of the BVI Football Association (BVIFA) League Season, on Sunday, April 17, 2016 with Morgan Creque sending the Lady Ballstars to an emphatic 6-0 win over VG United Ladies, and Thomas Albert banging in four for VG United Men in the 5-1 victory over the Ballstars in the Terry Evans Cup.

Following a presentation of the players to BVIFA President, Mr. Andy Bickerton, a goal fest greeted the large crowd as domestic football made a return to the A.O. Shirley Recreation Grounds for the first time since 2014 when Sharlene Pond and Amanda Emmanuel opened the scoring against a new look and young VG team.

Creque scored her first before Pond added her second to make it 4-0 at half time. Creque netted twice more to round out her hat-trick and the goal scoring to make it 6-0 at the final whistle.

The men then took centre stage on the luscious grass surface of the A.O. Shirley Recreation Grounds with Albert notching a first half hat-trick for VG United after Swerine Joseph opened the scoring, to make it 4-0 at the break.

Mo’Blo Casey Ogbonna pulled one back for the Ballstars in the second half but Albert scored his fourth from the penalty spot moments later to make the final score 5-1.

The night’s last game saw the Islanders run out 3-1 winners in a tense game with plenty of incidents and enthusiastic tackling from both teams.

All square at 1-1 going into the second half, the Wolues were undone by an own goal from James Drury and a game clinching strike from Kern Mitchell.

In the first half, Mark Gardiner’s opener for the Wolues was cancelled out by Avondale Williams.

On Sunday, April 24 at the A.O. Shirley Recreation Grounds, the Panthers Women face the Avengers at 3.30pm, whilst in the Terry Evans Cup, Old Madrid take on the Panthers Men at 5.15pm and the Sugar Boys face the Haitain Stars at 7.00pm.

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: , ,
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