Nkrumie sprints to CAC silver

Bouwahjgie Nkrumie claimed the silver medal in the men’s 100m at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games yesterday following a strong performance at the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Nkrumie secured a place on the podium after clocking 10.17 seconds.

He finished behind Colombia’s Ronal Longa, who won in 10.06, while Melbin Marcelino took bronze in 10.19.

The result brought Jamaica’s medal tally at the CAC Games to three, comprising one silver and two bronze medals, leaving the country joint 17th on the medal table. Jamaica had earlier secured bronze through Tahlia Richardson in badminton and the women’s rugby sevens team.

Krystal Sloley was Jamaica’s lone competitor in the women’s 100m final and finished seventh in 11.38 seconds.

The gold medal went to the Dominican Republic’s Liranyi Alonso, who crossed the line in 11.10, setting a new CAC Games record.

Puerto Rico’s Gladymar Torres was second in 11.22, while Yarima Garcia placed third in 11.32.

Jamaica’s Lushane Wilson narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s high jump after clearing 2.17 metres.

Wilson matched the height cleared by joint bronze medallists Jair Portillo of Mexico and Marcus Gelpi of the Dominican Republic.

However, Portillo and Gelpi both produced superior series records, leaving Wilson just off the podium.

Erick Portillo, the older brother of Jair, won gold with a clearance of 2.24m, while Cuba’s Luis Zayas claimed silver with 2.20m.

The Jamaican quartet of Demar Francis, Janielle Josephs, Kirk Dawkins and Tonya Beckford was well off the pace in the mixed 4x400m final, finishing sixth in 3:23.66.

They were 13 seconds behind the gold medal-winning Dominican Republic team, which stopped the clock at 3:10.57.

Jamaica enjoyed better fortunes in the men’s 400m hurdles, with Malik James-King and Romario Stewart both booking places in the final.

James-King was the fastest qualifier from the semi-finals, winning heat one comfortably in 49.30 seconds.

He will be joined in the final by teammate Romario Stewart, who finished second in heat two in 49.77. Stewart trailed only Costa Rica’s Gerald Drummond, who won the event in 49.60.

BASKETBALL RESULTS

Jamaica finished eighth in the men’s under-20 basketball competition after falling 66-47 to Guatemala in their final classification match.

It was a fifth consecutive defeat for the Jamaicans, who lost all three group-stage matches before going down 124-79 to Nicaragua in their first classification contest.

Jamaica fared slightly better in the men’s 3x3 basketball competition, finishing sixth overall after a 21-17 loss to Haiti in their classification game.

The team ended the tournament with two wins and three losses from five matches.

Jamaica finished seventh overall in the women’s hockey competition after securing their first win of the tournament, edging Bermuda 1-0.

Talia Packham scored the game’s only goal for Jamaica in the first quarter.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com