03162018 sports

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SPORTS SECTION E

Tiger Woods,

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2018

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31-member team for the Commonwealth Games By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Olympic Committee yesterday announced a 31-member team that will represent the Bahamas at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, scheduled for April 4-15 in the Gold Coast, Australia. While Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo will lead a 19-member athletic team (track and field), collegian Joanna Evans travels along with three other swimmers to compete alongside two boxers and two wrestlers.

But for the first time, the Bahamas will be represented by a competitor in triathlon and another in table tennis. BOC’s president Rommel Knowles said they are excited to have two of the small sports making their presence felt on the team this year as they live up to their mandate to include as many sports as possible. “For the very first time in our history, we have two new Olympic sports competing in the Commonwealth Games,” Knowles said. “We are excited about the opportunity to have table tennis and triathlon compete for the first time.”

Cameron Roach will be the lone representative to compete in triathlon, comprising of a swim, bike and run, while Adrian Rollins will carry the banner in table tennis. Knowles said the BOC didn’t have any qualification standards for the games, but they relied on the international bodies in the various sports to make the determination on the criteria for the team selections. However, he pointed out that there was a quota imposed by the Local Organising Committee in the Gold Coast and they made sure that they didn’t go over

the room limit so the Bahamas was forced to reduce the size of its team that is normally around 45-50 strong. Roy Colebrook, who will serve as the chef de mission, said once the various federations submitted the names of the competitors who are available to compete, the BOC went ahead and completed the list. “Our management team will do our very best to ensure that we will have victory at the Commonwealth Games and we in the management team will do our very best to ensure that the athletes and the officials are comfortable

and that they will compete at the best of their abilities.” On the track and field team, manager Ralph McKinney said because of the games coming so early in the year, there are no collegiate athletes named. He noted that the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations has only submitted the names of the professional athletes who are available to compete. “That’s a good thing,” he said, adding that they are looking forward to some outstanding performances from the athletes

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Coleby and Hilltoppers advance with 79-62 win in NIT opener

‘GOLDEN GIRL’ PAULINE REFLECTS ON HER AUSTIN SEALY AWARD

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

wight Coleby and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers advanced with a dominant win in the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament. Coleby finished with six points, five rebounds and two blocks in a 79-62 win over the Boston College Eagles at the EA Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Hilltoppers will now travel to California to face the top seeded USC Trojans, March 19 at 10:30pm, broadcast live on ESPN. The Hilltoppers improved to 25-10 as a No.4 seed in the tournament and picked up their first NIT win since 2005. “We want to keep building on this. The one characteristic everyone has when you mix all these new guys together we have good character and that’s what you see on display,” WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “We did a quick prep and we had a one day walkthrough. We made a decision on our biggest keys to keep [Ky] Bowman and [Jerome] Robinson out of that lane so to do that Dwight stayed on those guards. Dwight did a terrific job doing that.” Stansbury added that Coleby has recovered with an effort that impressed the coaching staff after several tough games. “Dwight looked better than he has the past few games. Dwight’s such a good person, and he had a couple tough games, ODU, Middle, UAB, Old Dominion again going against those big guys, and I think he didn’t have as much success as he would like, and he’s such a good person he lost some confidence because he’s trying hard but that was the old Dwight against BC,” he said. “He didn’t score as much as we have seen, but he was playing hard, finished that ball when he got it and defensively he was really good. The players got that confidence back in him, and he got it back in himself.”

ONE of the greatest honours for any athlete is to get a chance to represent their country in a major international competition before their home crowd. In one of the most defying performances at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium in 1984, Pauline Davis accomplished such a feat when she powered the Bahamas to its second consecutive victory over Jamaica in the CARIFTA Games at the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium.
 As she went on to become the third Bahamian to earn the Austin Sealy Award as the most outstanding athlete at the biggest junior regional competition in the Caribbean, it was the last time that Jamaica fell victim to the Bahamas, having dominated the Easter holiday spectacular ever since.
 Davis, who went on to achieve a stellar collegiate career at the University of Alabama to getting on the podium as a multiple individual and relay medallist at both the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships to now serving as an IAAF councilwoman, it was a Games she will never forget, especially considering the fact that the Bahamas will host the games for the eighth time this year.
 “There’s nothing I liked better than performing before my Bahamian crowd,” Davis said. “I live for it, I love to feed off their energy. For me, it was never an issue. It was a golden opportunity, a golden moment. I worked very hard and, at the time, I had a major injury, but a lot of people didn’t know it.
 “They told me that my athletic career was done, but my coach Neville Wisdom had me in the salt water morning and afternoon. He worked with me. But I missed the CARIFTA trials and he requested a special trials for me after the fact. I did that and they placed me on the team as an alternate.”
 That was how the story really unfolded.
 “The night before the 100 metres heats, I was told that I’m going to be running to get ready,” she recalled. “I was beside myself and I was a little bit nervous. I haven’t been on the track running because I was in the salt water for weeks recuperating. But I was so excited to be competing in front of my home crowd.
 “I’ve been to Jamaica, I’ve been to Guadeloupe representing the Bahamas at the CARIFTA Games, so this was my shining moment.

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WESTERN Kentucky forward Dwight Coleby finished with six points, five rebounds and two blocks in a 79-62 win over the Boston College Eagles at the EA Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky. (AP) Boston College led 26-21 early in the second quarter, but WKU went on a 7-0 run, pulling in front 28-26 at the 6:50 mark on a 3-pointer by Tavieon Hollingsworth. The Hilltoppers then finished the first half on an 11-2 spurt, including nine straight points. Justin Johnson’s layup just before the buzzer made it 41-33 WKU at the break. The Hilltoppers shot 61.5 per cent in the first half and held Boston College to nine points in the second quarter. WKU brought Diddle Arena to life with three straight dunks early in the third quarter and eventually led by as much as 17 with 7:24 to play. The Hilltoppers outscored Boston College 40-26 in the paint

and 15-2 on the fast break. This is the 14th NIT appearance for the Hilltoppers in school history after they finished in third-place in the Conference – USA regular season standings. WKU just missed an NCAA tournament berth with a narrow 67-66 loss to the Marshall Thundering Herd in the C-USA title game. A trip to the 2013 NCAA Tournament was the last postseason season appearance for the programme prior to this NIT bid. “You look at where we were two years ago and the issues we were facing then and you look at where we are now, literally one basket away from the NCAA Tournament,” WKU athletic

director Todd Stewart said to ABC 13-WBKO in Bowling Green. “This is a team that won 24 games and the opportunity to still be playing is one I know everyone certainly appreciates.” The NIT is known as the second tier postseason tournament behind the main event, “March Madness.” The tournament was founded in 1938 and the final rounds are played at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This year’s field is highlighted by several teams considered “on the bubble” for the NCAA Tournament, including Baylor, Notre Dame, St Mary’s and USC. The field also includes several teams who were regular season conference winners.

BAHAMAS SET TO HOST JUDO JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemdia.net ONE of the most prestigious events for the international judo community is set to premier in the Bahamas as the country prepares to host the 2018 Judo Junior World Championships. The Bahamas Judo Federation and the event’s Local Organising Committee officially launched the campaign to galvanise public support for the event, set for this October in the Atlantis resort’s convention centre. According to BJF President D’Arcy Rahming, The Judo Junior World Championships will represent a major economic and cultural boost for the Bahamas and will showcase the country to millions of the sports followers worldwide.

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THE BAHAMAS Judo Federation hosted a press conference yesterday at the Atlantis Resort Imperial Ballroom to speak about upcoming events. Shown (l-r) are Mike Tamura, President of Judo Canada, Jose Rodriguez, IJF Director of Development, Rommel Knowles, President of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, D’Arcy Rahming, President of Bahamas Judo Federation, Michael Pintard, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Daniel Lascau, IJF Presidential Office, Virginia Kelly, Director of Sports Tourism and Wellington Miller, LOC Chairman. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

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