Relay quartet sets new record

A QUICK dash by teenaged sprint sensation Darrel Brown guaranteed Trinidad and Tobago a bronze medal in the men’s 4x100m relay at the 14th Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic yesterday. The quartet of Niconnor Alexander, Marc Burns, Ato Boldon and Brown clocked a new national record of 38.53 seconds, erasing the previous mark of 38.58 set during their bronze medal run at the 2001 World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton, Canada. But the United States’ foursome was unchallenged for the gold medal, breezing past the finish line in a time of 38.27 seconds, ahead of Brazil 38.44 and Trinidad and Tobago. Alexander, who faced the starter’s gun and Burns, who held the baton for the second leg, struggled to keep pace with the Americans, Cubans and Jamaicans before quadruple Olympic medallist Boldon received the stick from Burns.

Boldon closed the gap between himself and his Jamaican rival in the third leg before Brown, in a flash, overtook his English-speaking Caribbean challenger to claim bronze. Chef-de-mission Brian Lewis was elated at last night’s achievement, saying: “I’m very proud and the team did well.” “To set a national record was great, but more importantly, they did their best,” he added. Trinidad and Tobago now have a haul of two medals, with Candice Scott earning bronze in the women’s hammer throw on Wednesday. Jacey Harper, Sheridan Kirk, Jamil James and Damion Barry were expected to participate in the men’s 4x400m relay final last night. Harper, the national 100-200m senior champ, replaced Julieon Raeburn in the quartet, after Raeburn sustained a slight injury during his sixth-place finish in Friday’s men’s half lap final. The national men’s hockey team steamrolled past Dominican Republic 22-0 yesterday, and will now face either Barbados or the United States in the fifth place playoff.

On the shooting range, Robert Auerbach dropped from an overnight 22nd to 25th spot, out of 32 entrants, in the men’s skeet. The 15-year-old, who resumed with a score of 68, fired rounds of 23 and 23 for a grand total of 114. Trinidad and Tobago had mixed results in the opening stages of the badminton event, with two victories in the mixed doubles contest counter-balanced by two defeats in the women’s singles and another loss in the men’s doubles. Anil Seepaul and Zeudi Mack strolled past the Guatemalan pair of Lopez and Mitcheo 15-3, 15-4 while Glendon Thomas and Nadine Julien were stretched to the limit by the Barbadian duo of Padmore and Eastmond, before the TT tandem prevailed 15-12, 11-15, 15-7. Julien will have no such luck in the women’s singles, as she was hammered 11-1, 11-2 by Jamaican Nigella Saunders, while Stephanie Mitchell also went down by the similar scoreline to American Iva Lee. Thomas and Darron Charles fought valiantly against the Jamaican twosome of Muirhead and Mendez, but lost 15-12, 17-14. 2002 Male Boxer of the Year Kerston Manswell was due to step into the ring last night to face Tomas Orosco for a quarterfinal spot in the men’s heavyweight division. Manswell, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist, is heavily tipped to claim a medal, despite a strong Cuban presence at the event.