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Track & Field Year In Review – Strong Starts

(26 December 2000) - Tremendous performances from St. Lucia's track and field athletes in 1999 bore fruit in February of this year. The Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, Youth and Sports named sprinter Verneta Lesporis; pole vaulter Dominic Johnson; high jumper Levern Spencer; and sprinter Damian Henville Sports Personalities of the Year. The Amateur Athletics Association was named Association of the Year.

GENERATION NEXT
Spencer, a third-form student of Entrepot Secondary School, took high jump gold in the NCB/SLDB Junior Track and Field Championships and Inter-Secondary Schools Championships after breaking the national record twice in thirteen months. Jineill Vite (Soufriere Comprehensive) stamped her sprint dominance by winning the 100m and 200m at NCB/SLDB and Inter-Sec. Soufriere's Nessa Paul won the women's 5000m and Entrepot's Mina Philip the 800m at both meets. In spite of Entrepot's and Soufriere's star power, Vieux Fort Comprehensive ran out 2000 Inter-Secondary Schools Track and Field Champions, even though only one of their athletes (sprinter Shem Emmanuel) led his division in medals. Vieux Fort had thirteen gold medals, twelve silver, four bronze; Entrepot were second with ten gold, ten silver, and eight bronze medals.
Vite's DI women's 200m dash victory came in 24.78s, 1.06s ahead of Verneta Lesporis' former record with Entrepot. Nonetheless, she wasn't selected for the Junior Carifta regional track and field championships, in Grenada on Easter weekend. Spencer was. The fifteen-year-old was one of only two St. Lucian athletes in Grenada, along with Nathan Justin. Justin completed a career-best 48.56s in the under-twenty boys' 400m, but Levern was the star, clearing 1.73m in the under-seventeen girls' high jump (a national record) and claiming bronze. Levern declared 1.76m her new Holy Grail. "Every year I'm getting better. This year I was third, and I think next year I'll be first."
In July, after a poor outing at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Track and Field Championships, Levern won the girls' high jump at Windward Islands Secondary School Games in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Her clearance of 1.80m has yet to be recognised by the AAA.

STADE SET LISI
Also in April, Youth and Sports Minister Mario Michel broke ground at St. Urbain in Vieux Fort for St. Lucia's very own National Stadium, thanks to a deal brokered with the People's Republic of China. At last, the Amateur Athletics Association would have a 400-metre international-standard all-weather track. Recently, the Stadium project was halted indefinitely.

THE VIEW FROM OVERSEAS
The fastest man in St. Lucia was at it again in 2000. Vieux Fort's Ronald Promesse clocked a fantastic 10.17s in the 100m at his alma mater, University of Texas el Paso. Promesse declared that he "felt as if something good was going to happen." At the time it was the eighth best time in the world for 2000. He also hit 21 seconds flat, then 20.88 in the 200m.
Dominic Johnson returned to action after a six-month break following shoulder surgery in November 1999. Dominic traveled to Europe for the first time, and did well, setting a stadium record in Slovenia and winning two meets out of three. He also set a new national record in his event of 5.7m in el Paso in August, thus enhancing his reputation as the region's best.
Other overseas-based St. Lucian track and field athletes had good years. Dane Magloire of Dennery and Division II St. Augustine's College in North Carolina cleared 7.82m for a new personal record. The 24-year-old beat out Emile John's national mark of 7.75m and came within inches of qualifying for the Olympics. At National Championships, Magloire was the long jump gold medallist even though he missed out on resetting his national record. "I'm happy to win, but the distance wasn't as impressive as I wanted it to be."
Another 24-year-old, Mon Repos' Zepherinus Joseph (then of Central Arizona College, now a junior at University of North Florida) became National Junior Collegiate Athletics Association 10,000m champion in Illinois, fulfilling a promise he had made to his coach in 1999. "After [coming second in NJCAA] cross-country championships, I told him my goal for the season would be to win the 10K. I never had any doubts about it. Even though the guy was running with me, I knew I could pull away in the end."
Miguel Lambert (Georgetown University) was two seconds away from Olympic qualification in his pet event, running a year's best of 1:49.39 in the 800m. He ran under 1:50 on at least three occasions. Maxime Charlemagne, competing for the University of Wyoming had a season-best 46.99 seconds in the 400m, 0.79 of a second out of Olympic qualification.
The St. Lucian trio at Southwest Missouri State University, Augustina Charles, Michelle Baptiste and Sharon Williams had quiet years. Augustina was bothered by an early-season injury.

THREE NATIONAL RECORDS AT NATIONALS
At National Championships in May, Tamara Popo claimed the senior national record of 40.83m, eclipsing her personal best by five metres and breaking Adella Paul's senior record. Soufriere's Nessa Paul (overlooked for the 2000 Carifta team) won the 1500m run. The victory made her the fastest junior female St. Lucian ever over that distance - she ran 5:01 to break Tricia Octave's nine-year-old record by seven seconds. Nessa won three individual gold medals, as did teammate Vite. Jineill was golden in the javelin, but she dominated (as usual) in the sprints. A month before her birthday, the seventeen-year-old ended the 100m in 12.06 seconds and the 200m in 25.25 seconds.
Spencer equaled her national high jump record of 1.73m, missing out at 1.75m in an empty field. Her Carifta teammate, Justin (Abilene Wildcats) won the 400m (a relatively slow 50.07 seconds) and 100m (10.69) but in the 200m he crossed the finish line in a new junior men's record of 21.14 seconds, improving on the mark of 21.34 previously set by Ivan Jn Marie.
Edmund Estephane won the men's 100m in 10.79 seconds. Electra Marcelle won the women's 400m in 1:00.93 and Jason Sayers won the men's 1500m and the men's 800m, the latter in 1:58, winning by a second. He settled for silver in the 5000m, which was won by Wayne "Ali" St Ange. Gavin Lesporis won the junior 1500m and was third in the 800m.

THE OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
St. Lucia's team to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia comprised three track and field athletes: Promesse, Johnson, Lesporis. The AAA was trying to qualify 4x100m and 4x400m men's teams, but their inadequate efforts failed. As you've read, at least two other athletes were close to the Olympic standard, but those individuals were unable to secure the support of the AAA and St. Lucia's Olympic Committee.
Other national teams were in Sydney weeks before the XXVII Olympiad, but St. Lucia's contingent arrived days before. It was, perhaps, due to the lack of funding for sports in St. Lucia that such a situation took place. Journalists and athletes confirmed reports of friction in St. Lucia's camp. It was not necessarily the best atmosphere for high performance.
No excuses, mind you. What was supposed to have been the highest of high points for St. Lucian track and field turned out to be a disappointment, though some would rather call it an embarrassment. Make no mistake, just getting to the Olympics legitimately was a tremendous accomplishment for athletes from a nation with St. Lucia's limited resources. Our athletes made a great start to 2000, and a number of good things came out of this year. The Olympic Games, though, are the world's biggest platform. Everyone sees, even if it's tape delayed. With World Champs, Central American and Caribbean Games and other big meets coming, we can only hope for better in 2001.

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Lucian Leads Windwards

(27 December 2000) - Friday last, a Windward Islands XI played Trinidad Schools in an under-fifteen cricket match, marking the end of this year's Windwards' age group competition. The Trinidad side, which took first knock, included three of the young West Indians who won the Costcutter under-fifteen world championship earlier this year in England. Two of them, Ramesh Ramdeen (58) and Aaron Ragoonath (35) made telling contributions, but the home team was limited to 157. With 50 from Garfield Charles and 48 from Miles Bascombe, Windwards achieved their target of 158 with only 5 wickets down.
Next April, led by Craig Emmanuel, the Windwards return to T&T for the West Indies tournament. The tall batsman from Mon Repos and St. Mary's College was among the top batsmen for the Windwards in the 2000 tournament. Unlike last year, when he was the only St. Lucian on the Windwards team, Craig'll be joined by opening batsman Asa Josef and by bowler Ervin Frederick. Craig aside, four players are back from the 2000 team, including allrounder Alcklint Granderson, vice-captain Bascombe, Haniff Alexander and Charles.
Craig led St. Lucia throughout in this year's Windards competition, tallying a personal tournament-high 47 runs as St. Lucia won their final game against Grenada. The match was reduced to 25 overs a side due to rain, and Grenada blasted off 114 for the loss of just 4 wickets. The St. Lucians barely attained 115, losing nine wickets and with only eight balls remaining.

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St. Lucia Amateur Athletics Association

National Records as at 31 December 1999*

100   See junior record   200 23.81 Verneta Lesporis Missouri 97 400 52.21 Verneta Barbados 99 800 2:06.3 Augustina Charles Barbados 99 1500 4:54.77 Deborah Moise Barbados 88 3000   See junior record   High jump   Ditto   Long jump   Ditto   Shot Putt 13.06 Adella Paul Castries 91 Discus 35.74 Paul St. Georges 89 Javelin 47.44 Helena Rene Castries 93 4x100 47.48 Lesporis, Charles, Baptiste, O'Neil Barbados 99 4x400 4:06.1 Lesporis, Cherry, Annius, Pascal Castries 92

Junior Men

100 10.6 Ronald Promesse Castries 93 200 21.34 Ivan Jn Marie New York 91 400 46.54 Jn Marie Ditto 800 1:50.39 Bernard "Fox" Henry Jamaica 91 1500 4:00.13 Fox Jamaica 88 5000 15:19 Zepherinus Joseph Trinidad 94 High jump 2.08 David Collymore Castries 94 Long jump 7.08 Ian Emmanuel Castries 94 Triple 14.49 Dane Magloire Castries 94 Shot Putt 13.49 Akim Herbert Barbados 97 Discus 39.92 Paulinus Lewis Castries 94 Javelin 60.7 Maxwell Seals Jamaica 88 4x100 43.4 Lewis, Richardson, Henville, Matty Castries 99 4x400 3:31.2 Cassius, Joseph, Mathieu, Leonce Castries 98

100 10.27 Ronald Promesse El Paso 99 200 20.75 Promesse Ditto 400 44.8 Ivan Jn Marie Arizona 95 800 1:48.14 Miguel Lambert New Jersey 99 1500 3:57.33 Zepherinus Joseph Maracaibo 99 5000 15:01.72 Zepherinus Joseph Arizona 99 10K road 30:31.2 Victor Ledgers Trinidad 92 10K track 31.08 Anthony Fessal St. Kitts 90 Marathon 2:27:37 Ledgers Trinidad 96 High jump 2.2 Marcus George Victoria 94 Long jump 7.75 Emile John Arizona 94 Triple 15.81 Dane Magloire Indianapolis 99 Shot Putt 14.37 Imbert Roberts Trinidad 63 Discus 45.2 Ricky Deligny Barbados 92 Javelin 65.52 Maxwell Seals Iola 93 4x100 40.56 John, Johnson, Henville, Promesse Winnipeg 99 4x400 3:10.5 Jn Marie, Johnson, Charlemagne, Seals Atlanta 96 Pole vault 5.65 Dominic Johnson Arizona 98 Decathlon 7632 Johnson Tucson 98

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Stadium Stoppage

(24 December 2000) - The National Stadium is on hold - indefinitely. That's the word from a report in the Mirror newspaper of 22 December, according to which work was stopped last month on the projected 15,000-seat facility in Vieux Fort. The stoppage was occasioned by the discovery of an unexpected type of soil, and a team of experts from China is due here in 2001 to assess the situation and to determine when work can begin again.
The Chinese National Overseas Engineering Corporation (COVEC) is building the Stadium on behalf of the People's Republic of China. David Yong, assistant project manager, has expressed his disquiet. "We are very concerned…we want to finish as soon as possible." The Stadium was originally due to be completed in the first half of 2002. As recently as two months ago - when the Government of St. Lucia officially handed the site over to COVEC - everything was on schedule. That's no longer the case. Yong says he has no idea how long the stoppage will continue, but it seems - for the time being, at least - that Foreign Affairs Minister George Odlum and Sports Minister Mario Michel will be made liars of. The stadium will not be ready in eighteen months.

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Sarah's A West Indian

(22 December 2000) - It ought to come as no surprise to anyone who's followed her young career that Sarah Alexander is a member of the West Indies under-sixteen netball team. She turned sixteen in August, but still qualified to lead St. Lucia into the Caribbean Netball Association age group competition in Jamaica. She led them to a fourth-place finish, her tough defense and experience making her clearly the most valuable player for her team.
Mon Repos' Most Outstanding Sports Personality of the Year 1999, Sarah has already received serious consideration for the senior national team. She was quite successful in her transition up one age group, as she was a defensive anchor for the national under-twenty-three side in Grenada. She also was chosen to attend a youth camp as part of this year's Summer Olympics in Sydney, and she has a great attitude to go with her talents.
Sarah will get many more accolades in her lifetime, but she'll be working toward making herself a fixture on future West Indies teams.

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