James Adderley and the Lion-man Triathlon
james Adderley
Good Evening. I’m James Adderley and this is Sports Monday.
The three game championship series for the Belize Bank Super League 2010 Football Title between Nizhee Corozal and City Boys United. Yesterday, the Ricalde Stadium with 35000.06 hanging in the balance. We must add that we were impressed with the opening ceremonies Nizhee Management.
However, 1st half proved to be an extended feeling and process until the 35th minute when brief Yam sets table perfect for Darnell Mossiah with a long distance pass and the striker easily beats Mark Grant and goalkeeper, Charlie Slusher to give the home team a 1-zip lead out the 35th minute of play.
They tried to double the lead when Christian Rena launches this corner hide into the goal mouth forcing Charlie Slusher to go airborne for the save. The one nil lead holds up to the intermission.
Unfortunately the momentum remained the same as in the 1st moments of the second half Michael Whittaker gets past Shawn Thurton to squander this open look at goal. Folks City Boys finally displayed some potency on offence when Tyrone Muschamp mounts this individual effort which concludes with a right foot offering that veers outside the target. A few minutes later Whittaker gets another chance to score after again zipping past Thurton and again he fails to move the scoreboard. Michael Whittaker gets another opportunity when Eduardo Perez finds him with this push off the set piece but the striker can’t get it past Charlie Slusher. At the other end, Jason Young turns away from Randy Casanova to try this shot at goal but fails to get it between the stick. Now watch Darnell Mossiah beat 3 City Boys’ defenders only to be foiled at the very last minute by a desperate lunge from Godson Michel. Nevertheless, the zip-1 score holds up to give Nizhee Corozal a 1 game lead in this best of three series.
Game II now comes up this Saturday at the M.C.C. Grounds where City Boys must benefit from home cooking or settle for 2nd place.
Changing gears folks, we now head to the Barracks here in Belize City where the 11th Lion-man Triathlon which has become a fixture on the National Celebrations Calendar was staged. Some 23 athletes, representing 12 teams along with 11 individual participants are in the Caribbean Sea Sunday Morning to start off the 1st leg of this triathlon event that features swimming, running and cycling in that order and the waters churn as the race gets off.
First to complete the 1500 meters swim is Dr. Ramon Figueroa who has participated in the individual category for the eleven years since its inception and now he heads to his bicycle for the 25 mile ride. Some 8 minutes later Giovanni Choto emerges out of the sea to set chase on Dr. Figueroa using the bicycle which would be natural weapon of choice since he finished 3rd in the tour of Guatemala which concluded last Sunday.
Another athlete you’d want to keep track of is Jay Essam of the British Forces who has even more tome to catch up on in the individual category.
Last to complete the swim is the sole female in the individual class fortunately her challenge comes mostly from the course which did not attract any competition in 2010, which says a lot.
As expected Giovanni Choto has pedalled to the lead and is off on foot for the final stage which features a 10k run or 6.2 miles. Right on his heels is 50 year old Dr. Figueroa who now thinks he has a chance to finally emerge as Lionman champ. Meanwhile, Jose Choto is the 3rd competitor in his individual class to complete the ride and figures he has a grip on 3rd place. In the meantime, meet the Jr. Champion who took his 2nd overall win on Sunday, Anthony Leslie. Meanwhile as for the corporate relay goes meet the winners Louis Haulze, Denise Diaz and Alexander Graniel – they competed as Team Spectrum Design and we say Congratulations!!
Finishing 2nd in this category is the Team Coast Guard consisting of Marco, Castellano, Tablada, Requena and Joel Borland who were victimized by a 20 second penalty. Folks, we will have the 2010 Lionman Triathlon in its totalling in a 1 hr package we hope to air on Thursday or Friday so stay tuned.
Of course Jose Choto must be mindful of Jay Essam who has thrown the gauntlet. We now fast forward to the finish of the event and we say congratulations to Giovanni Choto who wins the Lionman Triathlon in 2010 with a total time of 2:36:08. Hats off to Dr. Ramon Figueroa who was forced to settle for 2nd place after a truly impressive display for a man of 50 – he was only 1 mile 3 seconds off the pace.
And here’s the shocker, Jay Essam overcome the Jose Choto lead to grab 3rd place and we say congrats to the British. In other football news the Caribbean Motor Cup blasted off with another edition as presented by the BPFL over the weekend. At Dangriga, Griga United blanked Belmopan Blaze 3-zip with Alexander Peters opening the scoreboard at the 22nd minute and then Dennis Serano made it 2 nil with this goal at the 31st minute. Peters then came back at the 71st minute to score his 2nd of the match as Griga United picks up the big W in opening day. Further south at the Toledo Union field, the Toledo Ambassadors were held at a 1-1 tie by Hankook Verdes. Here in Belize City, FC Belize sunk the San Pedro Sea Dogs in a 3-1 finish while out at the Norman Broaster Stadium defending champion to Belize Defence Force doubled San Felipe Barcelona 4-2.
This Saturday, September 11th, Belmopan Blaze will host Toledo Ambassadors at 7:30pm and Hankook Verdes takes on FC Belize inside Marshalleck Stadium at 8pm. On Sunday, San Pedro Sea Dogs get a visit from the B.D.F. for 2:30pm sharp while at the People’s Stadium San Felipe will host Griga United.
In football news from the FFB, we remind you that the Soca Warriors of Trinidad and Tobago will take on the National Team at the F.F.B. field this Friday September 10th at 4 pm. In the meantime, Belize has drawn El Salvador in the VWCAT V-20 tournament to be staged at Honduras from the 1st to the 5th December 2010.
And in the Central American Cup which hits off on 14th January 2011 at Panama, Belize is groups with the host country Panama, El Salvador and Nicaragua while Group B features Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala. Belize will open against Panama the defending champion.
Jah Overall I’m James Adderley
