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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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CAC team returns home from Cuba with four medals By DAHALIA SMITH ~ NG Sports Reporter ~ dahalia@nasguard.com: Team Bahamas returned from the 22nd Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Senior Track and Field Championships, which wrapped up in Cuba on Sunday, with four medals and an overall seventh place finish. The meet served as an International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) World Championships qualifying event. Those championships are set for August 15-23, in Berlin, Germany. Reaching the podium at the CAC Championships for The Bahamas were Osbourne Moxey, who won the gold medal in the men's long jump with a leap of 7.97 meters (m) and Rudon Bastian who took the bronze in that same event with a best leap of 7.57m. Also winning medals for The Bahamas was Laverne Eve, securing the bronze medal in the women's javelin with a throw of 55.54m, and the men's sprint relay team of Rodney Green, Adrian Griffith, Carlton Rolle and Derrick Atkins which ran a time of 39.45 seconds. The qualifying standard for the World Championships is 39.10 seconds, or the fastest 16 times in the world. In the men's long jump, the Cayman Islands' Carlos Morgan covered a distance of 7.87m for the silver medal behind Moxey. The qualifying mark for the World Championships is 8.15m. The 'B' qualifying mark is 8.05m. Moxey trains under accomplished jumps' coach Peter Pratt, former coach of Olympic bronze medalist in the triple jump, Bahamian Frank Rutherford. "We could have done a lot better. I was working on my landing for the past several months. This is just my third competition so we need to clean that up but we may be able to get another meet in (before the Worlds). I am very happy with having won the gold for The Bahamas. Winning the gold was a priority, and then qualifying for the Worlds," Moxey was quoted as saying. The host country dominated the women's javelin. Yainelis Ribeaux won with a toss of 58.69m and world record holder Osleidys Menendez won the silver medal with a distance of 58.69m. The qualifying mark for the World Championships is 61m flat. The 'B' qualifying mark is 59m. The men's 4x100 meter team is the only Bahamian relay team which has not qualified for the IAAF World Championships. Both the women's 4x100m and 4x400m squads, and the men's 4x400m team have already qualified. National record holders deciding not to attend the CAC Championships included Chandra Sturrup, Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie and Chris Brown, along with female quarter-miler Christine Amertil. Winning the CAC Championships was Cuba with a total medal haul of 53 - 27 gold, 19 silver and seven bronze. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago placed second based on identical medal results. They both tallied 14 total medals - two gold, five silver and seven bronze. Puerto Rico finished fourth with six medals - two gold and four bronze medals, St. Kitts and Nevis was fifth with three medals - two gold and one bronze, and Colombia ended up sixth with seven medals - one gold, four silver and two bronze. Venezuela ended up one spot higher than The Bahamas with seven medals - one gold, two silvers and four bronze. The team returned home yesterday evening. Tuesday, July 7, 2009