SPORTS SECTION E
NAUGHTY
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017
Column, Page 3
Bodybuilders look to make impression at CAC By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
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hen the Bahamas’ 22-member team travels to the Central American and Caribbean Championships, three competitors are hoping that they will make an impression in Mexico City. Gemo Smith and Cara Saunders are returning to the championships, which will be held this year in Mexico City September 28 to October 1, while Giovanne Farrington will be making his debut. For Smith, the competition is totally different at the CAC Championships than what he’s experienced at home. “You have to bring a sharper, harder body because it’s that much more competitive,” said Smith, the open men’s physique D class champion. “What me and my coach (Nardo Dean) have decided to do after Nationals is to go with a bigger, harder body than we had before because of what we saw at CAC last year, just to be more competitive to at least make the final.” Smith said he feels he has the “best coach” in the country and he takes nothing for granted and if everything works out in his favour, he should make the top six, which should put him in a position to go for a medal. As for Team Bahamas, Dean said it’s a very competitive and compact one and they should do better than they did in the Dominican Republic last year.
COACH Nardo Dean with Gemo Smith, Cara Saunders and Giovanne Farrington. As the overall Novice champion, who won both the most muscular and best poser awards, Farrington said he’s looking to go to Mexico City and improve on his performance. “I am trying to sharpen my look and show more details,” said Farrington, who will be competing in the middleweight division in bodybuilding. “I am trying to stay healthy. “I’m listening to what my coach (Nardo Dean) is telling me because this is going to be my first time representing the country in bodybuilding. But I’m very excit-
ed to be able to get this exposure competing against other people.” Like Smith, Farrington said from what he sees, the team is a very solid one with a good mixture of youth and experience. “Hopefully one of the Bahamians going to the show can win their pro card,” he said. “Hopefully it’s me or one of my teammates. In any event, I think we as a team will do very well.” Coming from a track and field background, Saunders said her training is slightly different. “Weight wise, lifting wise, exercising, the movements are all
pretty much the same,” she said. “But the feeling of being elected to represent the country is the same. “So it’s very rewarding and it’s an honour.” Having gotten a learning experience at last year’s championships, Saunders said her rivals competed very well in the wellness division. “It’s a new division, so it was kind of difficult for us to gather what had been expected,” she said. “But I have to say that from last year to now, it’s all about size and leg definition and also trying to put everything together with the bikini portion in the presentation.” Under coach Dean, Saunders said she has someone in her corner who believes in her 100 per cent and has absolute faith in her ability to get the job done. “So I trust him in terms of the training and pushing me everyday,” she stated. “It’s actually fun now. It’s not like people make it to believe that it’s hard. It’s actually fun.” And for Team Bahamas, Saunders said each athlete represents the various divisions very well and they can and will do very well in Mexico. “I feel like everybody is where they need to be at this point and can only do better,” she summed up. Based on the criteria they got from the organisers of the CAC Championships, Dean said they have had to make an adjustment from what they looked like at Nationals so they can be competitive. “We kind of learned our lesson from last year to what we wanted them to look like this year,” he stated.
Saunders and Seminoles open season at No.3 By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net MAVIN Saunders and his Florida State Seminoles are expected to be one of the top teams in NCAA Division I football this season and the redshirt junior tight end is also expected to continue his progression. The Seminoles opened the season ranked at No.3 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll when it was released yesterday. The third ranked spot marks Seminoles’ highest preseason ranking in the last three years and the sixth time in eight seasons under head coach Jimbo Fisher that the team will open in the top 10. The Seminoles open the season with the highest ranked college football matchup in nearly 70 years when they face the No.1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on September 2 at the MercedesBenz Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked second, the USC Trojans are fourth and the defending
champion Clemson Tigers round out the top five teams. It begins a strong schedule for the ‘Noles that includes matchups against five ranked teams - Clemson, Louisville Cardinals (No.16), Florida Gators (No.17) and Miami Hurricanes (No.18). Saunders heads into the season second on the depth chart at tight end behind fellow redshirt junior Ryan Izzo. Izzo said he has seen dramatic improvement from Saunders in the last few seasons. “Definitely maturing a lot more,” Izzo said. “(From) when we both came in as freshmen, he’s come light years. He’s athletically a freaky guy. To see him really just taking coaching and focusing on details is special. I think he’s going to have a good year.” He also looks forward to the Seminoles’ offence using more two tight end sets to have both players more involved in the passing game this season. “I think it just created mismatches,” Izzo said. “Having two 6-5, 255-guys out there who are able to create mismatches on bigger linebackers. And also in the run game,
MAVIN SAUNDERS having those two big bodies creating holes for Dalvin(Cook) last year and even for Jacques (Patrick) and Cam (Akers) this year, just creates mismatches.” Saunders’ offseason has been filled with off-the-field accolades
thus far. In consecutive weeks, Saunders has been named to the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honour Roll and was also nominated to the Allstate Insurance Company/American Football Coaches Association 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. To receive the honour, students have to maintain a 3.0-grade point average or better in the classroom. Saunders’ nomination to the prestigious Good Works Team was based on his contributions to the surrounding community in Tallahassee, Florida. He served as a volunteer mentor at Riley Elementary School in Tallahassee, Florida for over 18 months. He began the initiative to earn extra credit for a criminology course but has discretely continued his role well beyond the intended completion date of the mandated programme. The Seminoles finished 10-3 last season, capped by a win over the Michigan Wolverines in the Orange Bowl. The 6’6”, 258-pound Bimini native finished his sophomore season with 10 receptions for 182 yards, both career highs.
MP LOOKS TO FORGE VIBRANT SPORTING PROGRAMME FOR FORT CHARLOTTE By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net AS a former athlete turned coach, Mark Humes wants to use his expertise to help forge a vibrant sporting programme for the constituency of Fort Charlotte that he now represents as the Member of Parliament. Humes, elected as the MP for Fort Charlotte under the Free National Movement government in the May 10 general election, said he wants to restore the lives of their residents by creating and funding positive youth, young adult and adult engagement opportunities in the community. “Those who are old enough to remember would remember that Fort Charlotte was once a sporting powerhouse with many of the sporting legends in baseball, softball, volleyball and track and field coming from the area,” he said. “Our vision is to create Fort Charlotte pride by making Fort Charlotte a sporting power once again and today’s launch of our sporting branding competition is the start of making that vision a reality.” During a press conference Sunday at the Keith Archer Building in Chippingham, Humes introduced the members of the staff who will be working along with him to develop the sporting programme. They included Julius Minns, the athletic director for Fort Charlotte, Dianne Cooper, the track and field coordinator, Dwayne Weir, the archery director and Rommel Humes, the basketball director. Minns said as they work on building their sporting programme in Fort Charlotte, they are initiating a logo design competition that will help to establish their athletic brand and they are inviting all residents of the constituency to take part. “We are looking for the name, colours and mascot for all of our Fort Charlotte athletic teams and are asking for interested individu-
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Chavez Young scores twice for the Blue Jays in 14-5 victory By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net CHAVEZ Young had one of his best offensive games of the season thus far and his timely hitting helped his club stay ahead in a close race atop the league standings. Young homered, finished 3-4 with two RBI and scored twice in the 14-5 win for his Bluefield Blue Jays over the Burlington Royals at Bowen Field at Peters Park in Bluefield, Virginia, on Sunday. With the win, the Blue Jays continue to lead the Appalachian League East Division and the entire league with a 38-19 record. Burlington led 3-0 after the top half of the first inning but the Blue Jays responded with five runs in their half of the inning to take
control. Young singled on a line drive to left field and was plated by a Kevin Smith double just moments later for the team’s first run of the game. Young was hit by a pitch in his at-bat in the second inning and in the third, he hit a two-run home run to centre field as the Blue Jays scored six runs in the frame to pull away. Young currently leads the Appalachian League with six triples, is third in runs scored with 40, and seventh in total bases with 90. Through 52 games this season, Young is also hitting .272 with, four stolen bases, slugging .423, an on-base percentage of .317, an OPS of .740 and three home runs. Out of Faith Baptist Academy in Ludowici, Georgia, the Grand Bahama native was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays organisation in
CHAVEZ YOUNG
July 2016 and was assigned to the GCL Blue Jays as a rookie just days later. This past June, Young began the summer with the Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League in Single-A Short-Season before he was reassigned to Bluefield. Just 11 games remain in the regular season and the Blue Jays are 0.5 games ahead of the Pulaski Yankees and 10 games ahead of the third-placed Danville Braves. The two teams with the best win-loss percentage in both the East and West Divisions, at the conclusion of the regular season, will qualify for the playoffs. In Round 1 of the playoffs, each division winner will face the second-place finisher in their division. In the event of a tie for a playoff
spot, the winner will be the team that has the better record in headto-head competition between the two tied clubs. The Appalachian League is a rookie league comprised of teams located in the Appalachian regions of Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee. The league’s season starts in June after major league teams have signed players they selected in the annual amateur draft and ends in September. Along with the Pioneer League, it forms the second-lowest rung on the minor league ladder. Although classified as a Rookie league, the level of play is slightly higher than that of the two Rookie leagues based on the parent clubs’ spring training complexes, the Gulf Coast League and Arizona League.