Jamaican triathlete Phillip McCatty won three of four events to dominate the Sweet and Simply Jamaican Virtual Run that concluded on Tuesday, June 16.
McCatty won the Male 5K Run, the Male Eight-Mile Run and the 15K Bike Ride.
Meanwhile, Tracy Ann Bourne (26:54) won the Female 5K Run ahead of Carol McKenzie of the Cayman Islands (26:59) and Jamaica’s Natasha Sessen (27:32).
Erica Simon won the Female Eight-Mile Run in 1:08.49. Natalie Debellis was second in 1:08:49 while Carolyn Harrison was third in 1:21.29.
The Canada-based McCatty said the eight-mile run was the most pleasing of his victories. He finished the course in 48:31 with Morrel Beckford finishing second in 1:02.01. Christopher Derrell was third in 1:03.14.
“That one was most pleasing. I chose a flat-out-and-back course by the waterfront. There were a few leisure cyclists, people rollerblading. I was able to run with most of them and it was fun to get a few surprised looks,” he said.
“I did all four events over the course of six days and the legs were a little tired so my expectations weren't very high, but overall I was happy with it.”
McCatty did not engage in any special training for the event as he was already in training before the competition began while finding creative ways to circumvent the lockdown restrictions and the personal frustrations caused for the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
“We just rested for two days leading into the blocks. I'm still running and cycling a lot, but with pools being closed the swimming is limited to whenever I can get to open water,” he said.
“In the first few weeks of the pandemic, it was tough to stay motivated because the realization had finally set in that I may not be able to do any traditional races this year. It's one thing to be in the hurt locker with a target event four weeks out, but when there is no end in sight it's really deflating.
“I realize the importance of staying in shape and so my coach gave me some performance targets to hit this summer. I've also attached rewards to them. This way of thinking, combined with the virtual events where I can still throw down against my peers, has really been helpful.”
Coming in, his strategy was simple; ‘go as hard as possible’ but he expressed disappointment at not doing well enough in a couple of the events.
“I was disappointed with my 5k because I know I'm much faster than that. However, with a full 12 months of focusing on the longer distances such as the Marathon & Ironman Triathlon - 3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run - it is understandable that the top-end speed can use some work,” he said.
“So we will address that this summer. I was a bit disappointed about coming second in the 30km bike but that's the way it goes sometimes. Hans (Heusinkveld) is a good cyclist so we'll have to settle it head-to-head at nationals next year!”
In other results, Athreeca Grant won the Female 5K Walk in 40:14. Carla Myrie finished second in 45:16 whole Marcia Chin (50:00) was third.
The Male 5K Walk was won by Duwell Allen in 25:02. Rick Case was second in 43:45 while David Swaby was third in 1:09:00.
Heather Facey took the top spot in the Female 15K Bike in 32:18 more than 15 minutes clear of second-placed Noelle Brown (47:48). Sacha Chung was third.
Leslie Prendergast won the 30K Bike Female in 1:25:00 over Lavinia McClure (1:49.31)
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Consistent Ryan Bramwell dominating Covid-afflicted shooting landscape
Although Covid-19 has halted regional and international tournaments, since May the Jamaica Rifle Association’s (JRA) practical-pistol squad have been staging monthly mega matches with marksman Ryan Bramwell dominating the competitions.
After three months of matches, the top local and regional shooter remains undefeated, taking the Standard Division as well as Overall title on each occasion despite fierce competition.
For the big matchup in May, Bramwell scored 425 points to finish way ahead of runner-up Anthony Johnson who tallied 330.823 and Chris Hart who was third with 329.010.
In June, Bramwell trounced the field again with 1142.708 points while Kevin Cheung was second with 1073.810 and Greg Henry scored 949.026 to take third. Then in July, Bramwell maintained his form to post 760.000 points and extend his streak while Darin Richards and Henry placed second and third, respectively, with 641.589 and 624.006 points.
“I have learned that the hallmark of a top performer is consistency, and while I know I don’t need to win every stage, I do want to win every match so I focus on consistency and thankfully I’ve been on a streak,” Bramwell said.
While the local landscape has always been competitive, 2020 has brought a heightened focus on home-field competitions as the pandemic forced a series of postponements including the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) Area 6 Championships which should have been held in March in Florida.
The highly anticipated International Practical Shooting Confederation’s (IPSC) World Shoot originally scheduled for November has also been postponed until next year.
In addition, Jamaica was set to play host to Caribbean and American shooters at the Jamaica Invitational Pistol Tournament (JIPT) over the Easter weekend in April, but the prestigious competition was called off due to restrictions on travel because of health and safety protocols.
“With travel now involving 14-day quarantines to invite shooters here or to travel to a tournament is not practical so we are focusing on local competitions,” Bramwell explained.
Although initially, the pandemic disrupted practise and tournament schedules, the pistol shooters soon integrated the recommended safety precautions into their match procedures in order to resume training and competing.
“To stay safe while we’re competing, we shoot in small groups to allow for social distancing and we are also rigorous about sanitising,” Bramwell explained. “Naturally, we were disappointed that some of the bigger tournaments we have been preparing for are not going to happen, but the local competition schedule is giving us a lot of motivation to keep training and keep improving
Knibbs shoots final day 74 to win Emancipendence Golf Classic
William Knibbs produced a tournament-winning round on Sunday’s final day of the two-day Jamaica Golf Association Emancipendence Golf Classic at the Caymanas Golf Club in St. Catherine on the weekend.
In doing so, he dethroned Sean Morris to win his second tournament since competitions resumed after the COVID-19 lockdown earlier in the year.
Knibbs, who was recently crowned Jamaica’s national amateur golf champion, overcame a double-bogey on the final hole to shoot a two-over-par 74 for a combined score of 151.
The hole was a nightmare for Knibbs all weekend as he shot a triple bogey on Saturday. He was seven over par for the tournament.
“I feel good about winning the tournament. A win is always a nice feeling,” Knibbs said.
“The conditions probably were not very much different yesterday (Saturday) compared to today, may have been slightly less windy but overall I managed the conditions better.”
He now looks forward to the next JGA event and especially the “Jamaican Open is in December from what I gather so that should be nice. It should be a strong field there.”
Knibbs revealed that playing under the threat of the pandemic has been a challenge.
“It’s more precautionary measures with regards to touching the flagsticks and stuff like that,” he said, “everyone is just being careful with regards to cross-contaminating where possible.”
Dr. Mark Newnham was three strokes behind with a final score of 154 over the two days after a 76 on the final day to follow up his 78 on Saturday.
Dethroned champion Sean Morris, who went into the tournament with high expectations, found it rough going over the two days.
He finished third overall having shot a seven-over par 79 on Sunday an improvement over his nine-over par 81 on Saturday.
His day two scorecard showed 10 bogeys and three birdies that saw him finish nine shots behind the winner.
“I came here to the golf course today about four or five shots back and decided I would look and see what was happening on the front nine for me,” he said.
“I just figured that I was not as sharp and as tournament-ready as I would like to be. I played the first nine holes three over par and really struggled to get the ball close to the hole. It was like that for the rest of the day and I figured that if you are a little off and your timing is a little off and your chipping is a little off and your putting is not as defined, you are going to end up with shots a couple over.
“My worst score today should have been 75. I missed some easy puts. I just felt like I was in a participation mode rather than a competitive mode so I just chalked it up to just enjoying the day and finishing the tournament. I was not tournament sharp this week. I haven’t played a lot since the injured finger so I just got to wait, my turn will come.”
Meanwhile, 14-year-old Aman Dhiman ended joint fifth with his father Vikram Dhiman, after shooting 87 and 83.
The Men Super Senior 0-12 handicap section went to former JGA president Wayne Chai Chong, who shot 76 on Sunday for a two-day total of 149.
He was followed by Robert Chin on 151 (77, 74) and Mike Bradford 160 (79, 81) to round out the top three.
The Men & Men Senior 7-12 handicap was topped by Shamar Wilson 167 (82, 85) while Richard White 176 (93, 83) and Barry Eligon 182 (93m 89) copped the second and third spots respectively.
The golfers in the Men & Men Senior 13 – 24 handicap were Aubyn Ferguson 194 (11, 83) and Delroy Anderson 208 (111, 97).
The three ladies who completed the classic were Jennifer Mendes 183 (93, 90), Alison Reid 185 (98, 87) and Diane Hudson 191 (99, 92).
Thompson-Herah bests Fraser-Pryce to clock world's second fastest time at Velocity meet
Reigning 200m Olympic Champion Elaine Thompson-Herah clocked the second-fastest time in the world this season with a brisk 22.19, at the Velocity Fest track meet, at Jamaica’s National Stadium, on Sunday.
Thompson-Herah’s time was second only to that of Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who clocked 21.98s at the Back to the Track meet in Florida two weeks ago. Thompson-Herah, who won section three, turned the table on compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who recorded a run of 22.57 to win section two. MVP’s Anthonique Strachan clocked the third-fastest time after stopping the time at 22.67 behind Thompson-Herah.
On Saturday, it was Fraser-Pryce who stole the show after clocking 10.87 to win section two of the event. Thompson-Herah won section three of the event, clocked an equally quick 10.88 seconds.
In Sunday’s men’s half-lap event Romario Williams clocked the fastest time of the day, with 20.46, to claim section three. Sprint Tech’s Rasheed Dwyer’s was second in 20.74, with O’Shane Bailey third with 20.84.
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