Former T&T Olympian and founder of Arima-based Abilene Wildcats Track Club, Clifton Bertrand, was inducted into the New York University (NYU) Athletics Hall Of Fame (class of 1962) at a posh ceremony, on Saturday. Bertrand, 79, is renowned as one of the institution’s most successful sprinters, particularly for his tenacity, commitment and prowess on the track, which had a significant impact on the success of the 1960s NYU track team.

With Bertrand heavily involved during one of those years, NYU Athletics achieved one of its most proud feats by winning every US track meet it competed in. Seated in the function, looking on proudly was Kenneth Ransome, a Trinidadian, who shared his experience on Saturday, a day he described as a proud moment for the university and for T&T.

“As I sat in the tenth floor grand room of the NYU Kimmel building, tastefully decorated for the affair, I was delightfully astonished at the ease with which he interacted with his former track teammates, and reasoned that character was another key reason he was an essential contributor to NYU track prowess in the 1960s, his charismatic leadership,” said Ransome.

Famously, Bertrand was the first man of African descent to coach the NYU track team “with heavily burdened responsibilities not just as a coach but also one of West Indian and African indigeneity,” according to Ransome. He is also believed to have been the first man of African descent to take become head coach of a major institution in New York and the first West Indian to take the job as a head coach of a major University team in the US.

“Dr Cliff Bertrand accepted his award honorably and humbly. His family and friends, many of whom were from T&T, were filled with pride and ineffable joy,” Ransome added. Bertrand represented T&T at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan and at the 1960 Olympic Games in Italy with the British West Indian Federation (the lone T&T athlete). He won four gold medals and one silver at the British West Indies Championships from 1957-1959 during which he won the 200m, 400m and high jump.

At two editions of the Pan American Games in 1959 and 1963, Bertrand won three medals. At the latter, Bertrand won the 400m bronze and another bronze in the 4x400m relay. In 1961, Bertrand was a member of the 4×400-yard team that set the indoor world record at the time (3:16:00), at the Millrose Games, Madison Square Gardens in 1961.

Among other achievements was once being on the receiving end of the prestigious Martin Luther King Award. He was a former coach of Jamaica High School in New York, Daytona Club and Mausica Teachers’ College of T&T.

Source

After retaining his coveted sprint title along the Arima Velodrome track on night-two of the 2015 National Cycling Championships, Rigtech Sonics hitman Njisane Phillip doubled-up with another golden showing in the Elite Men Keirin event which sped off on Sunday night.

Lining up in the 1-6 final, Phillip faced off against long-time sprint rival Quincy Alexander (Team DPS) and his club-mates Jude Codrington and Justin Roberts, Kwesi Browne (Arima Wheelers) and Rigtech’s Keron Bramble.

Having ousted Alexander in the final of the Men’s Sprint one night prior, Phillip affirmed authority once more when he blasted to victory ahead of the bunch to capture the Keirin crown. Alexander was again forced to settle for the silver medal while youngster Browne held on to the bronze.

Rounding off the top six finishers were Codrington, Roberts and Bramble respectively. And in the 7-10 final, Nevin Malco (Bike Smith) was first and seventh overall while Jonathan Harding (PSL) was relegated.

The two remaining finalists, Azikiwe Kellar (PSL) and Thireef Smart (Petrotrin), did not start.

Meanwhile, Varun Maharajh (Rigtech Sonics) proved to be the most promising endurance rider for the twin-island republic as he pedalled to gold in the Elite Men Omnium, winning four of the six stages contested.

In the final event — Points Race — Maharajh lapped the field a mesmerising six times while Campbell trailed closely behind, lapping the bunch on five occasions.

Finishing in a highly credible runner-up position was senior National debutant Akil Campbell.

The 2014 Caribbean Junior Road and Time Trial champion placed second in four of the six events, with victories coming ahead of Maharajh in the Flying 250m and 1km Time Trial.

Placing third overall was Gavyn Nero (Team DPS) while Sheldon Ramjit (Hummingbird) was fourth.

Team DPS finished among the medals as Codrington saved his energy for the Elite Men Standing 250m, where he produced a new National record of 18.672 at a speed of 48.201km/h.

Holding on to runner-up position this time around was Harding and third placed Kellar.

In the women’s equivalent, in-form rider and Pan Am Junior double gold medallist Kollyn St George (Breakaway) bagged her second gold of the Championships in 21.210.

She beat to the line Arima Wheelers’ Aziza Browne and fellow Pan American Team Sprint gold medallist Keiana Lester, who were second and third respectively.

Lester would however take top honours in the Junior Women Keirin, ousting Teneil Campbell (Rigtech Sonics) and Dominique Lovell (Arima Wheelers) respectively.

Sei Daniel also copped his second title of the tourney when he rode to victory in the Junior Men Keirin.

On his journey to the top, Daniel successfully fended off runner-up David Orr (Bike Smith) and bronze receiver Akim Constantine.

The Elite Women edition of this event also saw Jodi Goodridge (Arima Wheelers) top the field ahead of eventual runner-up Aziza Browne and Cheyenne Awai, also of Arima, respectively.

The final leg of the 2015 National Cycling Championships rode off from 7pm last night with the Time Trial and Individual Pursuit events.

Source

World Rugby have announced the dates and locations of the rugby sevens regional Olympic qualification tournaments, which offer six men’s and women’s teams the chance to book their place at Rio 2016.

The sides who claim victory at the tournaments will join the top four men’s and women’s teams from the ongoing World Rugby Sevens Series, as well as Brazil, who qualify automatically as hosts, and the final places will be decided at a repechage tournament, due to take place before June 2016.

“This exciting announcement marks another significant milestone as the global rugby family counts down to rugby sevens’ Olympic Games debut at Rio 2016 when we will see rugby’s first Olympians in more than 92 years competing on sport’s greatest stage,” World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset said.

“With rugby sevens enjoying unprecedented global profile and growth and the men’s and women’s Sevens World Series set to go down to the wire in this, the most compelling of rugby sevens’ years, I am sure that the regional Olympic qualifiers will be extremely competitive, underscoring the tremendous depth of competition around the globe.”

The first tournament will be held in Santa Fe, Argentina from June 5 to 7 and will see both men’s and women’s teams battle it out for the South American spot at the Games.

The following weekend, the American town of Cary in North Carolina will play host to the North America and the Caribbean competition, which will also incorporate men and women.

Europe’s women compete in Brive, France, from June 20 to 21 while the men will descend on the English city of Exeter on July 11 and 12.

The African women’s qualifier takes place in Johannesburg from September 26 to 27, and the Asian men’s tournament in Hong Kong follows on November 7 and 8.

Oceanic men’s and women’s teams will have their chance to secure a Rio 2016 berth in Auckland, New Zealand on November 14 and 15, and on the same weekend the African men’s qualifier will be staged in Johannesburg.

The series of regional Olympic qualification tournaments then concludes in the Japanese capital of Tokyo from November 28 to 29, and more details on the repechage competition will be confirmed by December 31.

“Rugby sevens, with its winning blend of high-octane action, close competition and entertainment, is proving a hit with young audiences, broadcasters and commercial partners around the world,” Lapasset added.

“This is why we believe that Rio will love sevens and we look forward to hosting fans in an exceptional arena at the very heart of the Deodoro complex where fans will experience the dynamic athleticism of our rugby sevens Olympians in a unique festival atmosphere.”

Source

IT’S FAIR COMMENT to say that when the UWI Games get underway in TT on May 21, the hosts campus will be hard-pressed to turn home advantage into victory. While not impossible, the odds are clearly against them. One has to look further back than the last three editions to find St Augustine top of the heap, and that fact is not lost on any of the campus squads preparing for the event, among which is the Women’s Volleyball outfit.

Trinidad and Tobago may boast of having the top national women’s volleyball team in the English-speaking Caribbean, but the records are not so flattering for St Augustine at the UWI Games. The women’s title has eluded them in recent times; Mona Campus took it in TT 2009, the hosts Cave Hill did so in 2011 and repeated as women’s champions at Mona in 2013.

Macsood Ali, the long-standing St Augustine women’s coach, could not immediately recall their last victory. “Over the years, we win some and we normally come second,” he told Newsday. “We never really come third.” Ali has been a national coach since 1992; he is head coach at El Socorro-based Glamorgan and he also coaches a number of secondary school teams, as well as the St Augustine campus squad.

Fine-tuning for this month’s campaign was moved to the Eastern Credit Union La Joya auditorium, as the UWI Sports and Physical Education Centre (UWI-SPEC) facility is booked for campus examinations.

Exams are also playing havoc with their sessions, but the players are quite upbeat in spite of all the challenges. Shushanna Marshall, an outside-hitter, says they make adjustments as necessary. “Some of the players aren’t here right now, but we understand that education is priority. You would like everyone to come out, but at vital times, once we have a setter and you have the outside attackers like myself, Avi and Mershawna, who’s also a libero, it works.”

Marshall, a 25-year-old Masters student in Agri Safety & Quality Assurance, has developed rapidly as a player since taking up the sport eight years ago; she was a member of the team that finished runners-up at Mona in 2013, and recently captained Glamorgan in the Super League.

Avoni Seymour, a Bahamian national team player is another the team will rely heavily on. “I understand some of the girls are new, but some of them are really good, like Shushanna.” An outside-hitter and defensive specialist, Avoni says she enjoys helping her less-experienced teammates. One of three players who are studying medicine, she says that by means of time management, the sport is an asset in her academic pursuits. “I love sports in general, but I focus my time on my schooling and my part-time job at the university, as well as training for volleyball; and volleyball is also a stress reliever for me so I use it to help balance off my schooling with my job.”

The team also includes two players who have represented TT at junior international level. Assisted by his son Saleem, a former national Men’s player, Coach Ali says they basically work on every aspect of the game. “Physical fitness, drills, then probably one part of the game you want to work on, maybe tonight, middle-blocking; you work on parts of the game you think you’re weak in, and try to develop all aspects.”

If they can pull it off, victory would go a long way towards St Augustine taking the title of champion Campus.

Source

Melissa Joseph, 20, is keen on bringing glory to Trinidad and Tobago at the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships and 2016 Olympics.

Joseph, is a US-based, American born, WTF Global Licensed Taekwondo athlete, born to TT parents.

She represented the USA, competing at an International level, but has switched allegiances to Trinidad and Tobago.

Joseph is a multiple international taekwondo medallist and has performed at the top “G” ranked status tournaments.

She has displayed resounding ambition and talent, exemplifying a serious nature regarding her career. Such testament to her diversity is that Joseph is a former Miss Horizonte Pageant (representing Trinidad and Tobago) third runner-up in 2012.

She has been selected by the Trinidad and Tobago Taekwondo Association to represent the national team, with two main goals — the 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Chelybinsk, Russia from May 12-18, as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. These games are the dual pinnacle in the world for taekwondo.

Joseph is currently a medical student at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, so between studies, charity work and professional competition, her goals are lofty but she believes they are attainable because of her ambitious nature.

Training out of two taekwondo training bases in Orlando and Tampa, Florida, Joseph is intent on pursuing excellence. Persons interested in funding Joseph’s quest for these Games can go to http://www.gofundme.com/r63bq5g. Joseph can be contacted via her fan club email at mjtkdintlmedalist@yahoo.com.

Source

Former junior national cyclist Akil Campbell was the star on the opening night of the National Track Cycling Championships at the Arima Velodrome, on Friday night. In the elite men’s 4km team pursuit, Campbell, along with Varun Maharajh, Barry Luces and Jovian Gomez, broke the national and track record in the event to win gold in a time of 4:42.696. Campbell, now 19, then defeated Maharajh (silver) and Gomez (bronze) to grab gold in the elite men’s scratch event.

In the junior women’s team sprint, Kollyn St George had to battle against her national junior teammates Keiana Lester and Teniel Campbell. St George along with her younger sister Jhordan won gold in 38.926 seconds, narrowly ahead of Lester and Campbell in 38.958.St George (Kollyn), Lester and Campbell all represented T&T at the Junior Pan American Cycling Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, last month.

The elite and junior segment of the National Championships continued yesterday and finishes tomorrow night. The masters will be in action from May 8­–10, also at the Arima Velodrome.

RESULTS
Junior Women—Team Sprint
1 Jhordan St George, Kollyn St George—Breakaway
2 Keiana Lester, Teniel Campbell—Bike Smith/Rigtech Sonics
Elite Men—4km Team Pursuit
1 Akil Campbell, Varun Maharajh, Barry Luces (Rigtech Sonics), Jovian Gomez—PSL Cycling Club, 
Junior Men Scratch
1 Nicholas Paul—Rigtech Sonics
2 Ramon Belmontes—Team DPS
3 Emmanuel Watson—PSL Cycling
4 Myles Burnette—Rigtech Sonics
5 Brandon Gittens—Rigtech Sonics
Elite Men Scratch
1 Akil Campbell Akil—Rigtech Sonics
2 Varun Maharajh—Rigtech Sonics 
3 Jovian Gomez—Psl Cycling Club 
4 Sheldon Ramjit—Hummingbirds 
5 Gavyn Nero—Team DPS 
Junior Men 4km Team Pursuit
1 Tyler Cole, Nicholas Paul, Brandon Gittens, Myles Burnette—Rigtech Sonics
Elite Men—Team Sprint
1 Quincy Alexander, Jude Codrington, Justin Roberts—Team DPS
Elite Women—Team Sprint
1 Jodi Goodridge, Aziza Browne—Arima Wheelers

Source