SPORTS SECTION E
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016
Beach Soccer
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Shaunae tops IAAF rankings By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net ollowing the completion of the 2016 Olympic Games, the International Amateur Athletic Federation has released its current rankings and a number of Bahamians are featured in the top 10 in their respective events. Shaunae Miller’s personal best of 49.44 seconds for the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has her sitting on top of the women’s 400 metres. American Allyson Felix follows with her silver medal run of 49.51.
Between the two, they share the top six times posted this year. In the 200m, which many people were hoping she would have gone for the double in Rio, Miller has dropped to fourth with her season’s best of 22.05, the new Bahamian national record she established in Kingston, Jamaica, on June 11. Jamaican double sprint champion Elaine Thompson holds onto the top spot with her Olympic run of 21.78. Ty’Nia Gaither, a semifinalist at the Olympics, is ranked at No.23 with 22.54 that she ran at the NCAA Championships in Eugene,
PEDRYA SEYMOUR
DONALD THOMAS
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TY’NIA GAITHER
STEVEN GARDINER
Oregon, on June 11 as well. Miller, by the way, is tied with Gaither with 11.19 for 55th place in the 100m. The time was an Olympic qualifier, but only Gaither contested the event in Rio. In lowering her national record to 12.64 to qualify for the final of the women’s 100m hurdles in Rio, Pedrya Seymour produced the most improved performance as she finished sixth. She is now ranked at No.11 on the list that is led by American Kendra Harrison, who didn’t compete at the Olympics but went on to set a world record in London with 12.20 on July 22. Despite falling short of qualifying for the final, Bianca Stuart is tied with two others for No.83 in the women’s long jump with her best of 6.52m that she did in Baie Mahault on May 14. On the men’s side, Donald Thomas remained consistent and is sitting tied for 4th place with his best of 2.37m that he did at the Székesfehérvár (Sóstói Stadion) on July 28. Thomas also had two jumps at 2.31m at Baie Mahault on May 14 and Monaco on July 15 to lead the field of two other competitors. Jamal Wilson is 15th at 2.30m at the BAAA Odd Distance Meet on January 9 to qualify for Rio. Trevor Barry, the other member of the Olympic team, is tied for 18th with 2.29m. Both Thomas and Barry made it to the final in Rio, finishing sixth and 11th respectively. Wilson missed out on making it a triple affair. Although he didn’t make it out of the semi-final of the men’s 400m, Steven Gardiner is tied with 10 others
GOLDEN GIRL: Shaunae Miller’s personal best of 49.44 seconds for the Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has her sitting on top of the women’s 400 metres. American Allyson Felix follows with her silver medal run of 49.51. for ninth in the men’s 400m with his time of 44.46 at the BAAA Nationals on June 25. The next best performance this year came from Grand Bahamian Alonzo Russell with 45.25 that he ran to finish as the runner-up to Gardiner at the BAAA Nationals, qualifying for Rio where he got eliminat-
ed in the first round. He is pegged at No.42. Michael Mathieu, who only did relay duties in Rio, is 59th with 45.42 in Montverde, Florida and veteran Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown, who completed his fifth Olympic appearance by falling short of getting out of the first round, is 79th with his SB’s of 45.56 in Rio.
The two highest ranked male sprinters were Adrian Griffith at 79th with 10.11 from Montverde, Florida and Jamial Rolle, 113th with 10.16 in Clermont, Florida. They both had subpar performances, finishing eighth in their respective heats in Rio. Demetrius Pinder, who had a false start in the men’s 200m in Rio, tied for 92nd in the men’s 200m. Shavez Hart, who contested the sprint double in his Olympic debut, is 147th at 20.57 behind Griffith’s 123th place with 20.52 and Mathieu’s 127th place with 20.53. Latario Collie-Minns, who fouled out of the qualifying round of the men’s triple jump in his debut in Rio, is tied for 22nd with 16.97m that he did in winning the NCAA title, while Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands’ return to the Olympics fell short of a qualifying spot in the final - he was 66th overall with 16.63m. National record holder Jeffery Gibson, who had an injury prone Olympics where he didn’t get out of the first round, is tied for 24th in the men’s 400m hurdles with his best of 48.96 that he did in Kingston, Jamaica on May 7. And with their bronze medal performance in the final, the men’s 4 x 400m relay team of Alonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu, Steven Gardiner and Chris Brown completed the chart with a third place showing behind gold medallist USA and silver medallist Jamaica. Stephen Newbold can also take comfort in the fact that he ran in the heats instead of Mathieu to help the Bahamas to qualify for the final.
JONES AND SUN PULL OFF 84-80 UPSET OVER DEFENDING CHAMPION LYNX By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net JONQUEL Jones and her Connecticut Sun returned from the league-wide Olympic break, continuing the momentum they gathered in late July. In their first game back, the Sun (9-17) - ranked 6th in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference - pulled off the 84-80 upset over the league’s top ranked team and defending champion, the Minnesota Lynx (22-5). Jones finished with six points, two steals and three blocked shots. Jasmine Thomas scored the go ahead basket for the Sun with 15.2 seconds left to play to send the team to their third straight win. Alyssa Thomas led Connecticut with 15 points, while Alex Bentley, Courtney Williams and Jasmine Thomas each finished
with 12. Sylvia Fowles and Lindsay Whalen led the Lynx with 16 apiece while Seimone Augustus finished with 11. WNBA fourth leading scorer Maya Moore finished with just eight. The win streak for the Sun ended at three when they dropped the second game of the back-to-back with an 87-73 loss to the Atlanta Dream (14-13) on Sunday night. Jones finished with four points, four rebounds one blocked shot. Chiney Ogwumike led the Sun with 24 points and Courtney Williams scored 13. The Dream pulled away with an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter and led by no less than 10 after scoring six straight early in the fourth. Layshia Clarendon and Angel McCoughtry scored 19 points each to lead the Dream while Tiffany Hayes added 17 points and Elizabeth Williams scored 16. Once the season is completed in
October, whether or not they are in the playoffs, Jones will have an added incentive to continue her professional career, having been drafted by Woori BankHansae Chuncheon to play in the Korean League, starting in November. “It’s been different at first. Coming out of high school in Maryland where we ranked nationally and we didn’t lose that many games and transferring to GW where we rarely lose that many games, it showed me that there’s going to be a process,” said Jones about her stint in the WNBA so far. “We have a lot of young talent, but it’s going to take some time for us to develop because we have to learn to play together and we have to grow together. “We started to come together right before the half, winning our last two games. So we are buying into what the coach is telling us and so I believe that we will only get better.”
JONQUEL JONES, of the Bahamas, and the Connecticut Sun pulled off an 84-80 upset over the league’s top ranked team and defending champion, the Minnesota Lynx. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) After coming off the bench at the start of the season, Jones was moved into the starting line-up, but she prefers to take the initial role on the team. “I feel more comfortable coming off the bench because I didn’t feel I was ready yet to be a start-
er,” she said. “I was put back on the bench and I was really able to contribute more to the team, so I think it was a really good call.” On the season, Jones is averaging 5.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in just over 13 minutes per game.
Seymour makes immediate impact with Rome Braves By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net ANFERNEE Seymour has looked comfortable in his new surroundings with the Rome Braves and has had an immediate impact with the club since he was traded earlier this month. Seymour recently scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning as the Braves closed out a successful three-game sweep with a 2-1 win over the Kannapolis Intimidators in Class A (Full) South Atlantic League play. Seymour scored the game-winning run after he reached base on a walk, stole second and then went to third on an error.
He was brought home on a sacrifice fly from RayPatrick Didder as Rome improved to 5-1 against Kannapolis this season. Seymour and the Braves are currently in the midst of a three-game series with the Augusta Green Jackets, the former club of fellow Bahamian Lucius Fox who was also involved in a trade this summer. In game one, Seymour finished 1-1 with two runs scored and one RBI in a 2-1 win for the Braves. In game two he finished 1-3 in a 5-3 loss. In 18 games with the Braves thus far, Seymour is hitting .258 with four RBI, an OBP of .296, an OPS of .569 with six stolen bases. Seymour was traded from
ANFERNEE Seymour recently scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning as the Braves closed out a successful three-game sweep with a 2-1 win over the Kannapolis Intimidators. the Miami Marlins to the Atlanta Braves in a threeplayer deal which also saw the Braves acquire pitcher Michael Mader in exchange for relief pitcher Hunter
Cervenka. He entered the Braves’ lists of prospects ranked at No.19 according to MLB. com’s 2016 Prospect Watch. He is ranked fourth among
shortstops after No.1 overall prospect Dansby Swanson, No.2 Ozzie Albies and No.8 Kevin Maitan. Seymour was ranked No.8 in the Marlins farm system but goes to a Braves organisation known for its deep talent pool in the minors. Seymour was having a productive season for the Greensboro Grasshoppers in the Class A (Full) South Atlantic League. In 122 games this year, Seymour hit .255 with 70 runs scored, 43 stolen bases and 30 RBI. He has recorded a slugging percentage of .303, an on-base percentage of .295 and an OPS of .599 and 145 total bases. The 5’11” 165-pound Seymour was taken by the-
Marlins with the 197th pick in round seven of the 2014 MLB Draft. The highly touted prospect received an over-slot signing bonus from the Marlins worth twice his slot value of just over $200,000. Seymour, who starred for the rookie Batavia Muckdogs in the Gulf Coast League last season where he played in 64 games at shortstop with a batting average of .273, was called up in April to the Grasshoppers. The 21-year-old previously reached a career milestone against the Braves this season when he blasted the first home run of his professional career, a 10-7 win for the Grasshoppers back on June 11.