15th annual Valentine’s Day classic goes to Marlon Castillo
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and this is Sports Monday.
We take you immediately to the Western Highway where we join the fifteenth running of the Digicell Valentine Classic as these two riders use the descent on Cement Hill to distance themselves from the main pack in this ninety mile journey that headed from San Ignacio to the turnaround point at Benque and is now headed to the finish in Belize City. All in business will tell you this curve at the Police Station in San Ignacio is treacherous in a high speed pack and a few riders learn this lesson the hard way and mercifully there’s no real injuries sustained. At Roaring Creek Marlon Castillo of Zamir steps out of the lead five to grab that premie. Of course we must remind you that the pelathon remains within striking distance at this juncture only some two minutes behind. In the meantime, Marlon Castillo marshals the forces inside the five man lead pack that includes Jose Choto, Geovanni Choto, Peter Choto and Mexican Santiago Martinez. The big five continues to stretch the pace pushing the lead to three minutes, fourteen seconds around mile thirty. 
At Hattieville it’s Marlon Castillo stepping out again to claim that premie only this time he has no challengers. And in fact only three riders are on his trail; namely Geovanni Choto, Santiago Martinez and Jose Choto. Meanwhile, the main pack remains in striking distance and are mounting a concerted effort to reel in the leaders. Nevertheless, Castillo continues unchallenged as we pass mile eight. And indeed folks, it’s Marlon Castillo of Zamir today as he raises his hand in victory after a magnificent ride that took him 03:28:24. Two and a half minutes later, his teammate Geovanni Choto out sprints Gilberto Santiago Martinez of Sugar City Boys and Jose Choto of Western Spirits to grab second place. And here is Jairo Campos of Team Typhoon rounding out the top five, displaying blistering speed in the field sprint.
In the female class, Shalini Zabaneh of Sagitun beat out Gina Lovell and Jane Usher in that order. Juan Jose Samos of Team Smart took the junior prize. Daezan Spence of Clear the Land won the youth category. Luigi Urbina of Team Typhoon grabbed the masters class while Brandon Cattouse of C-Ray was number one in category three. The countdown to Holy Saturday continues.
Turning to the football scene, the Belize Premium football league opened the Caribbean Motors Cup over the weekend so we take you to the M.C.C. Grounds where the defending champion, the Belize Defence Force hosted Hankook Verdes of Cayo. And it’s the visitors looking for first blood when Eden “Yellowman” Rawley attacks from off the left side but the goalkeeper does enough twice to keep the ballgame scoreless. The military gets busy when Tyrone Pandy floats this ball into the danger zone but the keeper is fouled by Orlando Jimenez. The B.D.F. then goes to the set piece in an attempt to score and this time it’s Gilbert Swaso who puts a hurt on the Verdes keeper. It’s more B.D.F. when Evan Mariano picks out this striker but Jamie Brooks does well in protecting his goal and at the half it’s a scoreless ballgame.
In second half play, Miguel Aguilar fires this long range bomb that forces the B.D.F. keeper into a big time save. Hankook Verdes continues with the pressure and this left foot shot from Richard Jimenez rebounds off the keeper to Danny Jimenez but the ball bounces off the defense. Folks Evan Mariano gets this look at goal and he beats goalkeeper Brooks but the Verdes defense digs it out while Brooks should have been booked for this double attack on the body of Mariano. Unfortunately, the referee doesn’t see it that way. In the meantime, the new referee deals with the B.D.F. when Gilbert Swaso slaps Aguilar for which he gets a yellow card. And twenty-two seconds later, a frustrated Swaso leads with the foot on this hard tackle and this time he is sent off the field. It could have been retaliation for the non-call earlier but we must all remember that sports is a discipline. Hankook Verdes then gets this opportunity to score when Ricardo Jimenez finds Marlon Meza but the keeper really comes up with an impressive save. The defending champion, B.D.F., hangs on for the nil-nil score against Verdes.
In other action around the league F.C. Belize beat BRC Blaze 2-1, San Pedro Seadogs gobbled up new comer Shanaiah Corozal 2-zip, and Georgetown Ibayani crushed Paradise Freedom Fighters 4-zip. Looking at this weekend’s schedule finds BRC Blaze hosting Georgetown Ibayani at Belmopan, Shanaiah Corozal will host the B.D.F., Paradise Freedom Fighter travel to Hankook Verdes and at the M.C.C. Grounds F.C. Belize take on the San Pedro Seadogs.
In other football news, the National Secondary Schools football Tournament concluded at the Ricalde Stadium on Saturday as Delille Academy of Stann Creek took out Wesley College 2-zip in the finals on goals from Tito Flores and Byron Chavez. Delille Academy completed the sweep when they beat Mopan Technical High 2-zip on penalty conversions from Kenisha Grant and Patricia Marin. We say congratulations to Cheflosa Martinez who emerged MVP while Delille Academy Teammate Tito Flores took the male MVP awards.
Hey folks, that our show for today. We invite you back same time, same place, next week. Jah over all, I’m James Adderley.
