SPORTS SECTION E
EURO 2016
Soccer, Page 6
TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2016
Shaunae earns athlete of the year honours By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
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uarter-miler Shaunae Miller was named the Charlie Major Athlete of the Year and James Rolle, who coaches a number of high jumpers, was selected as the Coach of the Year as the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations held its awards banquet to honour their most outstanding athletes for the 2015 season. Miller earned the highest honour given to the athletes at the awards banquet held Sunday night at the Breezes SuperClubs. The event came on the heels of the BAAAs hosting both its junior and senior nationals that wrapped up on Saturday at the new Thomas A Robinson National Stadium. The award was presented to Miller for her achievement as a silver medallist in the women’s 400 metres at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China. Miller also added the women’s 200m in a time of 22.14 seconds at the Jamaican Invitational to add to her 400m feat. She was also named the Senior Female Athlete of the Year in the awards banquet that was postponed from last November. The Thomas A Robinson Male
SHAUNAE MILLER, 400m silver medallist, celebrates during the World Athletics Championships at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing on August 27, 2015. Miller has been named the Charlie Major Athlete of the Year. (AP)
Freedom Farmers rule By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net FREEDOM Farm Baseball League returned to the Bahamas Baseball Federation’s Andre Rodgers National Championship this year and staked their claim as the sport’s most dominant programme in the country. Freedom Farm captured gold medals in each of the five contested divisions as the 14th edition of the national tournament concluded Sunday at the EMERA Baseball Complex in Grand Bahama. The Farmers took first place in the Coach Pitch (7-8 years old), Minor (9-10), Major (1112), Junior (13-15) and High School (16-18) divisions. The event featured 24 teams representing four islands including the Farmers and Junior Baseball League of Nassau (JBLN) out of New Providence contesting all five divisions. Others were Grand Bahama Amateur Baseball Association (GBABA) - Junior, High School; Grand Bahama Little League (GBLL) - Coach Pitch, Minor, Major, Junior; and Legacy Baseball (LB) Coach Pitch, Minor, Major, Junior out of Grand Bahama, North Abaco Baseball League (NABL) - Minor,Major,Junior - and Eleuthera Junior Baseball League of Rock Sound (EJBL) – Junior . Ravaughn Pinder was named the MVP of the Coach Pitch team as he led his team to the group’s first gold medal Sunday afternoon. They rebounded from a 6-5 loss to Legacy and
Athlete of the Year went to Jeffery Gibson. The national 400m hurdles champion won the gold in the men’s 400m hurdles at the Pan American Games in Canada and a bronze at the IAAF World Championships, while lowering his national record a couple times last year. James Rolle earned the Henry Crawford Coach of the Year honours for the role he played as the coach of Ryan Ingraham, the bronze medallist in the high jump at the NACAC Championships and the national high jump champion LaQuain Nairn, the silver medallist in the high jump at the Carifta Games and Charisma Taylor, the gold medallist in both the long and triple jumps at Carifta. Among the other winners of the prestigious awards were Paige Stuart, Benjamin Clarke, Brianne Bethel and Devynne Charlton. Stuart was named the Angela Rolle Youth Female Athlete of the Year after she won the Youth Championship trials, competed on the Youth CAC team where she turned in a gold medal performance in the high jump in Trinidad & Tobago. Clarke, on the other hand, carted off the Youth Male
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BAAA TRACK NATIONALS IN THE SPOTLIGHT By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
GOLDEN BOYS 16-18 CHAMPIONS: Freedom Farm captured gold medals in each of the five contested divisions as the 14th edition of the national tournament concluded Sunday at the EMERA Baseball Complex in Grand Bahama. also scored a 17-0 win over GBLL and a 6-2 win over JBLN. Over in the Minor division, the Farmers closed out the tournament with a 3-1 win JBLN in the championship game. Andru Arthur was named the team’s MVP. Freedom Farm’s path to the title included a 13-4 win over GBLL, 15-5 over JBLN and 15-1 over Legacy. In the Major division they won 11-3 over GBLL and Deshaughn Forbes was named the MVP. They opened the tournament with a 7-3 win over GBLL, 8-0 win over Legacy on day one. Day two featured an 8-1 win over Legacy and 23-0 blowout win over Abaco. They
also won 6-1 over JBLN. The Junior team dominated the field led by MVP D’Shawn Knowles. In the tournament finale they won 11-0 over GBLL. They also won 11-1 over NABL, 10-1 over GBLL, 5-1 over JBLN and 10-0 over Legacy. The High School team also overcame an early tournament loss to defeat JBLN 13-3 in the championship game behind an MVP performance from Kevon Moxey. They opened the tournament with a win over GBLL followed by a 12-8 loss to JBLN. They also defeated GBLL in the first meeting between the two teams and topped JBLN 11-1 in the first meeting.
The sponsors for the nationals were Grand Bahama Port Authority – Title Sponsor, Insurance Management – BBF Coach Pitch, Gatorade - BBF Major Division, FOCOL – BBF Junior Division, Summit Insurance – BBF High School Division, D’Albenas Agency and Pelican Bay Hotel. The tournament titles have changed hands several times over the past few years as participation has fluctuated. In 2015, Freedom Farm opted not to participate while JBLN and GBLL each took a pair of division titles. GBLL won Coach Pitch and Minor, while JBLN took the
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THE Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Track and Field Championships, just like the Jr Nationals held two days prior, didn’t produce the full slate of competitors as anticipated at the new Thomas A Robinson National Stadium over the weekend. However, there were some interesting occurrences that drew some interest from the spectators who attended the event. While there were qualifying performances for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August turned in by sprinter Ty’Nia Gaither, quartermilers Steven Gardiner, Alonzo Russell and Shaunae Miller, there were a few who came close. The meet, however, was the farewell on the local scene for veteran sprinter Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie and it made the return of Anthonique Strachan and Nivea Smith. “At the end of the day, I always try to look at it as cup half full,” FergusonMcKenzie said of her fifth place finish in the women’s 100 metre final in 11.81 seconds after she did 11.90 to qualify with the sixth best time in the preliminaries. “I don’t know the reason for it. I thought I would have seen more people in the stands being in the new stadium, but in all things give thanks. The athletes did their best and those who qualified will now go on and represent the country at the Olympics.” Having failed out in qualifying, Ferguson-McKenzie said she will have to wait and see whether or not the BAAA
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Cooper ready to make the most of Bengals training camp By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net CINCINNATI Bengals training camp is a month away and Bahamian offensive lineman Alex Cooper will have to make the most of his opportunity in order to claim a spot on the roster or practice squad. The defending AFC North Champion Bengals will host training camp when players report to the Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 28. Heading into camp, the Bengals will field either eight or nine offensive linemen, making for a competitive finish for a final roster spot. Cooper was signed as an undrafted free agent in May because of his versatility on the offensive line and that characteristic was on display immediately during his first appearance with the team. He participated in Bengals rookie-mini camp and immediately put that versatility on display.
Popular Bengals blog, Cined him that if the team brought cyJungle.com, said Cooper’s him in to camp, he would be reversatility gives him an opporquired to get some repetitions tunity to remain in contention at at centre, news which prompted several spots throughout trainthe Eleuthera native to practice ing camp and the preseason. with anyone who could snap “Bengals’ offensive coach the ball to ... including his girlPaul Alexander loves tough friend. players, and Cooper fits that bill “I told her this is something very well. The team also loves we’ve got to do. Team effort,” picking up offensive linemen Cooper told Geoff Hobson of who are versatile enough to play Bengals.com. “I had heard from any position. Cooper might not other coaches that I’d have to have any experience at centre, play guard and centre if you’re but he has enough experience going to play at the next level. at every other position on the “That sent shivers down my offensive line that you probspine because I like to be out ALEX COOPER ably wouldn’t have to take too in space as a tackle. (The quarlong teaching him that position. Given his terback exchanges) weren’t as bad as you lack of athleticism, they will probably want think for two guys who had never done it. to take full advantage of his skill set as he I’ve got an open mind for anything.” competes for a spot on the roster or pracCooper was one of 15 players signed as tice squad.” an undrafted college free agent by the BenPrior to signing Cooper, Alexander alert- gals following the completion of the NFL
Draft. Undrafted players made up 29 per cent of NFL rosters last season and within the Bengals organisation, six players were undrafted free agents including All-Pro linebacker Vontaze Burfict. Following his stellar senior season with the Houston Cougars, Cooper garnered the attention of several NFL teams, including the Houston Texans and the Oakland Raiders. In his senior season he was one of the anchors on an offensive line which powered the high-scoring Cougars’ attack. Cooper was named All-AAC and Phil Steele’s AAC Second Team selections. Cooper started 25 straight games on the Cougars line at various positions, including both tackle spots and right guard. Cooper and his line mates led a Houston team that is 14th nationally in rushing offence at 240.1 yards per game. Houston’s leader along the line with 892 snaps, Cooper did not allow a single sack last season and conceded just eight quarterback pressures.