SPORTS SECTION E
NFL
Week 3, Page 5
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017
Waltiea Rolle joins Turkish Women’s Basketball League By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net WALTIEA Rolle’s pro basketball career will continue this season in Turkey. According to World Wide Hoop, Rolle has signed with Endremit Gurespor of the Turkish Women’s Basketball League (TKBL). The TKBL is the top women’s basketball league in Turkey and will play its 37th season this year. The 6’6” centre and University of North Carolina product last played with Haskovo 2012 in the Bulgaria’s NBL league where she averaged 13.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.
In her previous season she played with Nymburk, of the Czech Republic’s ZBL League in 2015, where she averaged 16.3 points and 10.4 rebounds in 31 games. In her first stint with Haskovo 2012 in 2014, she led the club in several statistical categories. Through 20 games and 27.3 minutes per game on the court, she shot .504 from the field and .783 from the three throw line for an average of 14.1 points per game. Rolle also averaged 9.2 rebounds and 1.95 blocks. Rolle told The Tribune of her offseason plans of a return to pro basketball in Europe, specifically in Turkey, which provided much more financial stability than
WALTIEA ROLLE Bulgaria. “I’m trying to get back overseas,” she said in May. “Me and my agent are trying to get a
deal somewhere in Turkey where the contract is a lot better than where I was before.” She spent her offseason working on the holes in her game. “I just have to work on my speed. I need to get a lot faster,” Rolle said. “My post game wasn’t the best, but I hope that between October and November, I will be in shape to go overseas to play again.” Rolle, the first Bahamian to be drafted into the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), was a third-round pick (36th overall) by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2013 WNBA Draft. She appeared in all three preseason games with the team, averaging 7.0 points, 4.3 rebounds
and 1.0 steals per game. After completing training camp and the preseason with Minnesota, Rolle was waived just prior to the tip-off of the 2014 WNBA season. Her WNBA journey ended in May 2015 when she was waived by the Seattle Storm. In six games with the Storm in 2014, Rolle averaged 3.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. “I know what I have to do in order to get back there [to the WNBA],” she said. “I’m not going to rush anything. I just want to make sure that I am in the best condition to play at that level gain because when I go back, I want to make an impact. Everything
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Potcakeman power By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
C
ameron Roach, using his past experience as one of the Bahamas’ top swimmers, surged to the front of the pack and held on for the victory in the sprint segment of the fifth Powerade Potcakeman Triathlon. Beating out Simon Lowe in the 750-metre swim, 13-mile bike and three-mile run on a course around Jaws Beach, Roach was followed by a host of other winners, including Julia Salas, the female winner and Jorge Marcos Aballi and Anna Zywiolek, the male and female champions of the Olympic segment of the 1,500m swim, 26-mile bike and six-mile run. Roach also got to watch as his nephew Noah Roach and his daughter Kami Roach emerged as the winners of the boys’ and girls’ 10-12 age group respectively. Sarah Kennedy, who teamed up with Roach and a few others to form a committee for the event, said it has been five wonderful years that they have seen the event grow by leaps and bounds. “We have grown each year both through the number of participants and supporters. What a great turnout today,” she said. “This year’s races were particularly competitive and extremely exciting as we had the fastest athletes spread over both distances. We are also really proud as always of those people competing in their first triathlon and we hope they get the bug and come back again next year.” Powerade was this year’s presenting sponsor and they were joined by Subway, Purina Dog Chow, Albany, Think
MIKE STRACHAN CATCHES 1ST RECEPTION OF CAREER
Simple, Higgs & Johnson, KPMG, Odyssey Aviation, JS Johnson, The Pet Food Institute, Daminos Sotheby’s International Realty, Happy Pets Animal Hospital, Heineken and Golden Wings Charter. Through the efforts of all involved, Kennedy said the committee was once again able to raise over $30,000 for their charity of choice - Baark.
By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
No charity performance from Roach While this was a battle for the Bahamian bragging rights, Roach was able to build a comfortable lead coming out of the water (10:58) compared to Lowe’s (12:40). But as they progressed, Lowe closed the gap on the bike (36:16-36:48) on Roach and made it an exciting finish in the run (21:49-22:40). However, Roach was able to hold in the end for the win in 1:11.22 with Lowe trailing in 1:11.56. Mark Dietrich had to settle for third in 1:12.29. “I had a really good swim, coming out strong. I was able to hold my lead coming out of the bike ride, but the run was very challenging with the trail and the hills,” Roach said. “I did cramp up a little, but I was able to hold and defend my title. I think Simon Lowe and Mark Dietrich gave each other a good push. There were a couple guys in the Olympic run who were also there. I hope one day we can all come together and do the same distance.” But the 38-year-old Roach said until they do, he will enjoy his back-toback sprint title. Birthday present for Salas With her 38th birthday today, Salas wanted to
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WINNING WAYS: Shown (l-r) are Mark Dietrich (third place), Cameron Roach (Ist) and Simon Lowe (2nd) after the fifth Powerade Potcakeman Triathlon at Jaws Beach.
MIKE Strachan reached the stat sheet for the first time in his collegiate career. Strachan caught the first reception of his career for the University of Charleston Golden Eagles in the team’s 19-16 loss to Fairmont State Fighting Falcons. Strachan, the 6ft 5in 205lb pound wide receiver was a redshirt in his true freshman and saw his first playing time of his collegiate career this year. The Golden Eagles fell to 1-3 on the year. Strachan entered college as a three-sport athlete who will also run track for the Golden Eagles. He joined Charleston after a standout career for coach Chris Rocco at LCA. Strachan was a member of the 2013 VISAA 1 State Championship team, and received All Conference and Honourable Mention All-Region this year as a senior. Strachan is also ranked fourth nationally in the 500m, set a new LCA record in the event at the Hokie Invitational and will run track for UC as well. The Golden Eagles football programme is coming off a season where they finished with a 3-8 overall record, and a 3-7 mark in Mountain East play. In the previous year they made the first ever trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs under head coach Pat Kirkland. Kirkland enters his seventh season overall and over the past three seasons has led UC to an overall 21-11 winloss record and a top-15 national ranking.
Emily Morley in action today at World Rowing Championships EMILY Morley, 23, the first Bahamian to row in an Olympic regatta and president of the Nassau Rowing Club, will set the standard for Bahamian rowing once again as the first Bahamian to race at the World Rowing Championships. The big event began yesterday in Sarasota, Florida, and Morley’s first race is all set for today. She will race in the Women’s Single Scull event, the same event in which she competed at the Olympics with athletes from 20 other countries. Also competing is Felice Chow from Trinidad & Tobago, the only other Caribbean nation represented. Chow and Morley have raced each other before at the
FISA Americas Olympic Qualification Regatta, held in Santiago, Chile. “I am so honoured to be able to represent the Bahamas again,” says Morley as she reflects on her rowing career which has spanned eight years. “It’s exciting to be competing again, but I am more excited to see the up and coming Bahamian rowers who are coming through the elite training pipeline. I am humbled to be a role model to Bahamian rowers – especially the female rowers - and I hope some of them follow in my footsteps as they progress into more competitive programmes to fill out our elite squad in a few years. Becky Robinson will accompany Morley as her coach.
EMILY MORLEY
Robinson previously coached Morley for four years as head coach of the Ithaca College women’s rowing team, who saw three NCAA appearances under Morley’s collegiate rowing career. She was also the Bahamas team coach in Rio. Robinson is excited to coach again at the international elite level, saying: “It’s great to have a Bahamian and Ithaca graduate doing great things in rowing. She joins Meghan Musnicki as another elite rower who has come through the programme and continues to do great things.” While the top of the highly competitive field are expected to come from European and Canadian programmes, Morley aims
to row the best race she can. As she looks forward to being back in competition, she said: “Just being back in the elite rowing world is very exciting. It will be a lot of fun competing with the world’s top athletes again,” she said. “The founders of the Nassau Rowing Club aimed to build a pipeline and training structure to prepare top Bahamian athletes to compete at the international elite level. We are getting closer to achieving that goal.” • Results will be posted to www.worldrowing.com. Readers can also follow Morley’s journey on the Nassau Rowing Club Facebook page: facebook.com/ NassauRowingClub.