SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2025
CARIFTA GAMES PREVIEW
Blue Chip throwers aiming to medal again By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net
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he Blue Chip Athletics Club, powered by Norwegian Cruise Line, has produced some of the premier field event athletes in the country. Junior throwers Taysha Stubbs, Dior-Rae Scott and Annae Mackey are among some of the best throwers the club has developed over the last few years, with all three ladies claiming medals at the 2024 CARIFTA Games in St George’s, Grenada. The throws trio has once again made the CARIFTA cut for Team Bahamas and
T’ARJAHNAYE ALL SET FOR CARIFTA – SEE PAGE E2
are expecting to haul away medals in their respective events. Stubbs won gold in the under-20 girls’ javelin throw event one season ago. It was her first appearance at the junior regional meet and she erupted for a massive personal best of 50.94 metres. The 17-year-old Queen’s College student has surpassed the CARIFTAqualifying mark of 39.75m at every meet she has competed in this season and hopes to hit the medal podium at the 2025 CARIFTA Games in Trinidad & Tobago. “It feels really good. I know I am not close to where I want to be for the season and I know God still has a lot in store for me so I am just gonna continue trusting him and continue putting in the work to break records and standards,” she said. She recently came first at the 2025 Splice and Connect/ Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) CARIFTA Trials with a season’s best heave of 47.76m. It was the closest she has gotten to last year’s personal best mark. The CARIFTA gold medallist said she still has some work to do ahead of the Easter weekend competition but remains optimistic going into the meet. Her plan is to shatter the U20 girls’ javelin CARIFTA record of 51.13m set by Grenada’s Candesha Scott in 2016. “My goal is definitely to shatter the record. I know
DEANDRE AYTON AND THE TRAIL BLAZERS LEFT OUT OF PLAY-IN CONTENTION By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net
after dominating the javelin throw event at the
THE 2024-25 National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season was filled with highs and lows for Bahamian big man Deandre Ayton and the Portland Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers’ window for play-in contention came to a close oddly with their 120-109 win against the San Antonio Spurs over the weekend. Both the Spurs and Trail Blazers were still in the running for the play-in tournament but were ultimately eliminated due to Sacramento’s 120-113 win over Cleveland. As for Ayton, he has been shelved for the last 26 games after sustaining a left calf strain against the Denver Nuggets back in February. Prior to the injury, Ayton was averaging 14.4 points per game (ppg), 10.2 rebounds while shooting 56.6 per cent in his second season with the Trail Blazers. Despite owning a 35-44 (win/loss record), the Blazers were rolling at some points during the regular season. The team reeled off a sixgame winning streak from January 28 to February 8. Portland now has two games remaining before the end of their season and will miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive year. It remains unlikely that Ayton will suit up again for the Blazers this season.
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MEDAL HOPEFULS: Junior javelin throwers Taysha Stubbs and Dior-Rae Scott, right. I still have a lot in store for me so I definitely just wanna exceed my expectations, my coaches and the
people who believe in me,” she said. Scott, 17, has moved up to the under-20 division
THE MASTERS ENDS THE 9-MONTH WAIT FOR GOLF’S MOST ANTICIPATED MAJOR By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — For a sports renowned for moving slowly, the Masters can’t get started fast enough. Wednesday at Augusta National was filled with anticipation, not to mention a bit of pollen from a glorious spring day in the South, as players filed out of the clubhouse for a final dress rehearsal at what has become the most anticipated major of the golf season.
Rory McIlroy walked out of the clubhouse through a crowd under the live oak tree and headed out for a quick nine holes in his bid for an elusive Masters green jacket, the final piece of the career Grand Slam. He played a money game with Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry before heading over to the Par 3 Tournament. The Masters is so different from the other four majors. It has the smallest field (95 players) on the
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THE SPORTS April CALENDAR PEACE ON DA STREET FAMILY NIGHT PLANS are underway for the staging of the Peace on Da Streets’ Basketball Classics’ Road to 30 years of existence. The event, being organised by the Hope Center under the theme “Shooting hoops instead of guns,” will be held from July 14-19 at the Michael ‘Scooter’ Reid Basketball Center.
The highlight of the event will be the Family Night, scheduled for Sunday, July 20 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium when the finals in all of the divisions will take place, starting at 3pm. There will also be the Mr Ship It Three-point shootout and the Joe’s Slam Dunk Contest. The night will conclude
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