THE going has been tough for the St. Lucia team participating at the Canadian Bank Note / WINLOT Windward Islands School Games currently taking place in the Commonwealth of Dominica.
Based on latest results received with matches at Portsmouth in the north and also in the capital Roseau on Wednesday. Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines played to a 30 all draw at Portsmouth to keep the netball table very interestingly poised.
The girls’ basketball games were both affected by the adverse weather conditions in the afternoon leading to one game being rescheduled and the other awarded. The St. Lucia versus Grenada match had to be replayed at Portsmouth, while the St. Vincent and the Grenadines against Dominica game was controversially awarded to the host country, at the point of the interruption in the second quarter when Dominica led 29 – 7.
The football competition commenced with a double header at the Windsor Park Stadium. In the first game St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada played to a 1 all draw. St. Vincent and the Grenadines converted from the penalty spot and Grenada drew level late in the first half. Both teams squandered numerous opportunities in the second half but were unable to break the deadlock and had to share the points in the end.
In the second game of the evening St. Lucia played host nation Dominica before a very vociferous crowd. Team St. Lucia kept their composure to secure their first win of the games. After a spirited start JackimOchilly in the 10th minute, timed his run to perfection to break the offside trap and profit a one on one opportunity with the keeper. He calmly slotted it past the goal keeper to give St. Lucia the lead.
Substitute Melvin Doxilly replaced Shadrach Henry and in the 90th minute he converted to double St. Lucia’s lead and hand team Dominica a 2 – 0 defeat.
On Tuesday morning in volleyball St. Vincent and the Grenadines defeated St. Lucia in straight sets 25 – 9, 25 – 11 and 25 – 13, while Grenada secured victory over Dominica in the first game.
In the afternoon session Dominica defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Boys Basketball, while Grenada thrashed St. Lucia 74 – 22.
The night session saw keen competition in Boys Volleyball with Grenada edging out St. Vincent and the Grenadines in five sets.
Monday marked the second day of competition. In the morning session, St. Lucia lost to host Dominica 76 – 46 in female basketball and Grenada had the better of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the second game.
In the first game of the afternoon session St. Lucia lost to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in straight sets 25 – 22, 25 – 16, 25 – 22 in male volleyball while Dominica edged out Grenada in 5 sets.
In the evening session St. Lucia went down again to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in netball 46 – 27 and Grenada defeated host Dominica in the second game.
On Sunday St. Lucia’s junior sprint Queen Julien Alfred had a double gold medal winning performance. She won the 100m in a time of 12.0 seconds and the 200m in a time of 24.8 seconds Allana Paul captured the bronze in the 200m in a time of 25.9 seconds, and also won another bronze in the Girls 400m in a time of 59.8 seconds.
In the boys 800m, Ibed Sealy captured Bronze in a time of 2 minutes 06.2 seconds. KamillahMonroque won St. Lucia second gold medal this time in the Girls 1500m. She stopped the clock in 5 minutes 20.2 seconds. In the Girls high jump Neema Leon captured the silver with a height of 1.55m, while in the long jump boys, DesranDesir was too good for his opponents when he leapt 6.79m to secure his team’s third gold medal. Desir made his second appearance on the medal stand this time in the triple jump event after clearing a distance of 13.50m to win silver.
In the Girls Javelin, Rochelle Etienne had to settle for the bronze medal with a distance throw of 33.70m, but came back strong to secure the silver in the girls shot putt throwing 11.15m, while her compatriot Amber Lucien picked up the bronze with a distance of 11.04m. St. Lucia’s final medal in the track and field championship came via the Girls 4x100m relay winning silver in a time of 49.8 seconds.
At the final points tally following the track and field championship, Grenada was 1st with 182 points, Dominica – 2nd with 136 points, St. Lucia – 3rd with 105 points and St. Vincent and Grenadines 4th with 102 points.