media_artricles :: 2015

Qiu in CAC Age Group medal hunt

Trinidad and Tobago's Daniel Qiu produced a big 61.04 metres effort in the ball throw to jump into medal contention in the Sagicor Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Age Group Championship Boys 11-12 pentathlon, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, yesterday.

Qiu was ninth after the 60 metres dash and high jump. In the ball throw, however, he dominated his rivals.

The 638 points earned by Qiu pushed him to 2,023 overall and second spot on the standings. Jamaica's Mekale Gordon leads with 2,026 points, while third spot is currently held by Bahamian Davon Johnson (2,011). Another T&T athlete, Jordan Pope was fifth at the end of day one with 1,993 points.

Like Qiu, Antonia Sealy is well-placed for a podium finish. The T&T athlete got to the line in 10.46 seconds in the girls' 13-14 heptathlon 80m dash, produced a 5.31m leap in the long jump, and threw 10.09m in the shot put.

Sealy heads into day two action in third spot with 1,920 points. Second-placed Akayla Morris of Barbados earned just one point more than Sealy on day one.

But the leader, St Lucia's Julien Alfred accumulated 2,053 points yesterday for a huge cushion on her rivals. T&T's Safiya John was 11th on 1,692.

T&T's Avindale Smith emerged as a medal contender in the Boys 13-14 heptathlon.

After three of the seven disciplines, Smith was joint-fourth with Jamaica's Antonio Watson in a field of 26 athletes.

In the 80m dash, Smith stopped the clock at 9.51 seconds to finish first in section two and third overall. He earned 903 points to trail the leader, St Lucia's Tyler Toussaint by 42 points. Toussaint won section three in 9.32 seconds.

Smith added 839 points to his total when he finished third in the long jump with a 6.16m leap. His two-discipline total of 1,742 points pushed him to the top of the standings. Toussaint was second, 11 points back on 1,731 following a 5.87m jump.

Jamaica's Shaquille Lowe, meanwhile, was third after the first couple disciplines with 1,718 points. He jumped 6.44m to top the long jump, and clocked 9.85 seconds for ninth spot overall in the 80m.

After the shot put, however, Lowe was in front thanks to his 12.42m throw, the Jamaican ending the day with 2,350 points. Toussaint (2,334) and Barbadian Enrique Babb (2,288) were second and third, respectively.

But Smith and Watson were nipping at Babb's heels with 2,276 points each.

The other T&T athlete in the Boys 13-14 heptathlon, Joel Andrews was 21st going into the second day of competition. He ended day one on 1,967 points.

In the Girls 11-12 pentathlon, Malika Coutain was sixth at the end of day one with 1,620 points, while her T&T teammate Xea Bruce was 16th with 1,504. Bahamian Paige Stuart accumulated 1,753 points in yesterday's three disciplines to take the lead, ahead of Curacao's Joanna Benita (1,713) and Barbadian Julisa Jones-Smith (1,702).

Action at the Crawford Stadium today is scheduled to start at 9.30 am.

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