New female Cross Country Champ
Patrick Jones
A new female cross country champion crowned in Belize City… The Bandits draw closer to first place in football…and the ladies of Unitedville extinguish the Flames in Camalote.
Good Evening, with the post Mother?s Day weekend edition of Sports Monday, I am Patrick Jones.
The sporting scene was a busy place this past weekend with activities of every persuasion taking place in every district across the jewel. And while we couldn?t be at every location, our cameras were at some of the major events… and we start at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex where the Belize Cycling Association crowned a new female cross country champion. Eight of Belize?s top female cyclists suited up for the seventy-two mile race along the Western Highway on Sunday. The race started in San Ignacio and by the time it reached the Marion Jones Sporting Complex, it was still very much anybody?s race.
Coming down the stretch, the group of seven cyclists are bunched together when out of nowhere, Gina Lovell makes her big move on the inside and easily pulls away from the rest of the group. Moments after she finishes her victory lap, Lovell collapses and has to get emergency treatment.
Whoever says winning the cross county title is easy, obviously has never pedalled a bicycle for seventy-two gruelling miles in the hot sun. In any event, congratulations to Gina Lovell for capturing the women?s title in the 2004 female cross country race.
Second place goes to Marinett Flowers, third is Violet Morrison, Shante Morrison comes in fourth, while Fiona Humes Gonzales takes the fifth position.
Turning to football, the Belmopan Builders Hardware Bandits and the B.P.F.L. leader Juventus played to a three-three stalemate out at the People?s Stadium on Saturday night. It was ninety minutes of intense football excitement as neither team wanted to give in.
This was pretty much the pace of the game and when this Bandits player gets taken down in the mid field, the referee asks both sides to cool it down.
On this corner kick the Bandits get an opportunity to score; but somehow the Juventus defence manages to fight off the attack. Here is another golden opportunity for Juventus, but the header finds no connection on the other end.
Juventus gets another opportunity, but this easy touch is a piece of cake for Charlie Slusher.
But that was not the case in the twenty-second minute of the first half when Rubiel Martinez touches the back of the net. Seven minutes later Christopher Hendricks again brought the O.W. fans to their feet with the home team?s second goal.
The Bandits keep the pressure on looking for the elusive goal… Here the boys in blue and white squander a scoring opportunity. They come close to shaking the nets on this play, but the Juventus keeper is up to the challenge.
In heavy traffic in front of the Bandits goal, Juventus is looking to add another mark to the score board, but they?ll have to try again.
When a penalty is rule on this play at the forty-fifth minute of the first half, Andy Hunt steps up big time and puts Bandits on the scoreboard with their first goal of the ball game with a bullet past the outstretched arms of the goal keeper.
Going into the second half, Juventus maintained a two-one lead.
The equalizing goal comes early in the second half, when Derys Benavides lifts this goal kick over a four man wall and just out of reach of the Juventus goal keeper.
But the game would not stay tied at two for very long as Daniel Thomas used all of his body to put Juventus in the lead again with this goal in the fifty-sixth minute.
Benavides again shook the nets for the Bandits and at the end of regulation it was Juventus three, the Bandits an equal amount of goals.
In other B.P.F.L. action, out at the Carl Ramos Stadium, Griga United stunned Sagitun two-nil on goals from Bent Burgess and Lenox Castillo.
Out in San Pedro, Flavio Pineiro and the Sea Hawks gave the defending champions Kulture Yabra an express boat ride back to the city with a two-nil defeat.
As it now stands, Juventus is in first place with seventeen points, Griga United and the San Pedro Seahawks have fifteen points each, Sagitun has thirteen, the Builders Hardware Bandits have earned twelve points, while Kulture Yabra have only eleven. The Calcutta Bulls have so far only earned one point in this year?s competition.
Turning to Softball the 2004 Cayo Competition continued over the weekend with five games. On Friday night at the Joan Garbutt Stadium, and despite two rain delays, the Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy behind the pitching of Kenrene Gillett overcame Lanisha Jones and the Esperanza Wolverines.
Out at Pine Park on Saturday, the Esperanza Royal Devils sent rookie pitcher Thomas Serut to the mound against the Hope Creek Falcons.
But wildness and lapses in judgement such as this one when shortstop Elihue Lopez throws the ball to the cameraman instead of getting the sure out at first, plus the usual strong pitching of Garth Godoy, combined to hand the Royal Devils their third straight defeat of the competition.
With the victory, the Falcons galvanized their hold on first place, upholding the team?s longest winning streak at four games going back to the end of the regular season last year.
In the second half of Saturday?s double header, the team from Ontario shocked the red hot Falcons, handing them their first defeat of the 2004 competition. Brian Garbutt and Ernesto Thimbrel combined to shut down the Falcons bats and ensure that at least for this year, no team in Cayo would go through the season undefeated.
On Sunday in Camalote, Unitedville SQ defeated Las Flores in division B play by a score of twenty to three. Lynette Gabourel was the winning pitcher, while Rhea Gutierrez took the loss.
In game two, again in the B division, Unitedville One pulled off a nine-eight upset of league leaders Flames of Ontario. Indira Ireland was the winning pitcher, while Cindy Dawson is credited with the loss.
And in A division play, defending Cayo champions Camalote Duurly?s Crystal dropped Esperanza Wolverines 15-1. Francine Salazar chalks up her second regular season victory, while Indira Spain gets tagged with the loss.
And in the Belize City competition, on Friday night, team CTC defeated B.T.L. by a score of seven to four. Shirlene Banner was the winning pitcher, while Mary Flowers gets tagged with the lost.
In the male competition, league leaders B.E.L. Rookies needed eight innings to finish off Advance Strikers with a score of three to one. The winning pitcher was Richard Stephenson, while Sheldon Sutherland gets tagged with the loss.
On Sunday, Advance Strikers dropped two close games in a row, falling first Dantos six-five, and then one-nil to Rookies in the nightcap.
The only female game played on Sunday say Lady Rebels defeating JL?s Stars by a score of five-two behind the pitching of Carla Humes and a solo homerun off the bat of Clarencia Jones.
The Cayo competition takes a break this weekend and returns on May twenty-second.
And that?s where we?ll leave it this week, we invite you back here in seven days time for a fresh look at all the news from the world of sports. I am Patrick Jones.
