SPORTS SECTION E
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
NFL MONDAY
Steelers win, Page 5
Olympic team celebrations to be a ‘grand’ Sunday By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
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ith athletes pouring in their sentiments of gratitude, businessman Tommy Stubbs of Buttons Formal Wear said the celebrations for Team Bahamas for the 2016 Olympic Games is shaping up to be a grand event on Sunday. “You cheered. You screamed. You cried, but most of all you share in the joy of watching them compete on the big stage,” Stubbs said. “On Sunday, September 18, you get to show our Olympic Games athletes just how much you appreciate them when they competed for the glory in Rio, Brazil.”
Stubbs, through Buttons Formal Wear, is organising the Olympic celebrations set for 3pm in the ballroom of the Melia Nassau Beach Hotel for the gold medal performance from Shaunae Miller in the women’s 400 metres, the bronze medal by the men’s 4 x 400m relay team of Alonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu, Steven Gardiner, Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown and Stephen Newbold, Pedrya Seymour’s record breaking performance to make the final of the women’s 100m hurdles as well as Donald Thomas and Trevor Barry in the men’s high jump and the record-breaking feat by Lanece Clarke, Carmiesha Cox, Anthonique Strachan and Christine Amertil in the women’s 4 x 400m relay.
Additionally, Stubbs said the Bahamian public will also get to rub shoulders with Emily Morley, who made history as the first Bahamian to compete in rowing, along with the three-member
swim team led by Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace. Some of the athletes have expressed their gratitude to Stubbs and Buttons Formal Wear for putting on the event that comes more than a month since the games was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August. “It is said that good things come to those that wait and it’s never too late to celebrate,” Clarke said. “Upon finding out that we were going to be honoured and recognised for what we have accomplished at the Olympics, we were all elated and filled with gratitude. “Words can’t express how grateful I am to be home to celebrate my accomplishment with my teammates, family, friends and most importantly with Buttons
Formal Wear. Thank you once again for all that you guys are doing, I am honoured and ready to add this celebration to my memoirs of 2016.” Amertil, her teammate and the ladies’ captain of the team in Rio, joined in the chorus. “I would like to thank Buttons Formal Wear for such a generous gesture in celebrating the 2016 Rio Olympic Team,” she said. “It is very much appreciated by myself.” But one of the greatest compliments came from sprinter Jamial Rolle, who unfortunately didn’t have a good showing at the games as he finished last in his heat and was unsuccessful in getting out of the first round of the men’s 100m.
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JONES AND SUN OUT OF WNBA PLAYOFFS
LAUREN CHARLTON-SZCZYGIEL (second from left), with her mother Laura, sister Devynne and father Dave, in Beijing, China at last year’s IAAF World Championships.
Track athlete Lauren turns mentor, coach By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net SHE had a promising career as a track and field athlete, but after going off to school, Lauren Charlton-Szczygiel has changed her focus and is now giving back to Michigan State University as a mentor and coach. Charlton Szczygiel, the oldest daughter of Dave and Laura Charlton, is a third year PhD student at Michigan State University where she currently works with the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. She received her bachelor’s degree in sport psychology and biology from Michigan State Univer-
sity and is a certified youth track and field coach with a bachelor’s degree in sport psychology and biology. Although she only competes as a form of recreation, CharltonSzczygiel, whose research interests include coaching, positive youth development, athletic programme development and evaluation, is now working as the YATA’s athletic coordinator for the 2016-2017 year. YATA - Youth Advancement Through Athletics (YATA) - is a multi-faceted youth development programme designed to reduce court-involved youth’s risk for reoffending through their involvement in strength-based, holistic 15-week mentorships, athletics
(e.g., basketball), community engagement (e.g., Greater Lansing Food Bank volunteers), and career-driven activities (e.g., resume building, interview preparation). Additionally, the programme hosts Christmas parties, sports banquets, and team outings to celebrate and acknowledge the participants’ achievements. “I had interviewed to be a mentor in the programme but after seeing my résumé and the experience I’ve had working with kids they invited me to apply for a staff position,” said CharltonSzczygiel. Since taking on her new role, Charlton-Szczygiel said it has been an exciting journey. “It’s been a learning experience for
sure, considering that the team we work with is a basketball team and I don’t really have experience in that sport, I’ve had to do a lot of learning on the go,” she said. “Asking questions, meeting new people. But I feel that I am off to a good start and that I can contribute a lot to the programme.” YATA was founded in 2011 by Michigan State University students Marva Goodson, MS and Jayme Danzig, MSW, under the direction of distinguished professor Dr William Davidson and consultant Sean Hankins, MSW. The programme operates in collaboration with Michigan
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By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net JONQUEL Jones and the Connecticut Sun were one of the hottest teams in the WNBA during July and hoped to challenge for the final playoff spot. However, a recent losing streak ended those hopes as the WNBA season winds down. The Sun lost their third consecutive game Sunday afternoon and were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 96-86 loss to the Chicago Sky at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Jones finished with five points, three rebounds and two assists in just over 16 minutes. The win also clinched a playoff berth for the Sky who surpassed the .500 mark at 16-15 while the Sun went to 11-20. The Sun, Dallas Wings (11-21) and San Antonio Stars (6-25) have all been eliminated from playoff contention. The Phoenix Mercury (14-17) and Washington Mystics (12-19) remain in the hunt for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Seattle Storm currently occupy the No.8 spot at 12-17, just one game ahead of Jones and the Storm and with just five games left to play in the regular season. The Sun posted an 8-4 record from July to early September and was tied for the second best mark in the WNBA during that timespan. Despite being sixth in the Eastern Conference, with the league’s new playoff rules, they remained with a shot at the eight spot. Prior to the losing streak, the Sun were just one half
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Auburn University introduces our Olympians during halftime By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net JUST ahead of their official recognition and celebrations at home, several members of Team Bahamas were recognised by their university for their participation in the Rio Olympic Games. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Leevan Sands and Teray Smith were introduced at halftime of the Auburn Tigers’ 51-14 win over Arkansas State on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. They were just three of five current or former Tigers to represent Team Bahamas in Rio, along with Sheniqua Ferguson and Donald Thomas. The Tigers went on to win their first game of the year after a season-opening loss to No.2 ranked
Clemson last week. In her third Olympic appearance, Vanderpool-Wallace competed in the 100m and 50m Free in Rio. In the 50m Free, her signature event, Vanderpool-Wallace, the 26-year-old veteran, clocked 24.60 seconds, but was edged out for the eighth and final spot by Aliksandra Herasimenia of Belarus, who was fifth in the second semis in 24.53. She finished ninth overall in the event. In the 100m Free, she finished seventh in heat six and No.18 overall in 54.56 and two spots shy of a spot in the semi-final. Sands returned from a near career-ending injury at the last Olympics in London, England and completed his inspiring and highly publicised “Road To Recovery.”
Sands, the 34-year-old veteran, could only muster a best leap of 16.53 metres or 54-feet, 2 3/4-inches on his third and final attempt for 10th place in Group A and 18th place overall. The former Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medallist in the event was also the Bahamas’ flag bearer for the closing ceremonies. Smith, the only current member of the Tigers’ programme, enters his senior season at Auburn following his Olympic debut. It wasn’t what he anticipated, but Smith knew that after a long season at Auburn University, the 200m in Rio would be a challenge. The 21-year-old came through the fourth heat in 20.65 for sixth place, but not fast enough to get a shot in the semis. Smith was left out tied with two others for 52nd overall from of a field of 77 competitors.
Ferguson, 26, also competed in the 200m and was eighth in her heat in 23.62. She ended up 58 out of a field of 72 competitors in her second Olympic appearance. Thomas, the 32-year-old 2007 IAAF World champion, came up with a jump of 2.29m to finish seventh in Rio. He was clear through the first three heights at 2.20m and 2.29m before he knocked down all three attempts at 2.33m. Thomas recently completed his season on the IAAF Diamond League circuit at the AG Insurance Memorial Van Damm in Brussels, Belgium. The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture announced last week that the celebrations for Team Bahamas for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will take place this weekend. The ministry has revealed that
in conjunction with the Bahamas Olympic Committee, Tommy Stubbs and Buttons Formal Wear has been charged with the organisation of Team Bahamas’ celebrations. It is scheduled for 3pm Sunday, September 18, at the Melia Beach Hotel, Cable Beach. “Immediately following the event, the general public is invited to join us in a motorcade from Melia Nassau Beach Hotel through the streets of Nassau ending at the Fish Fry, Arawak Cay, where the athletes and the entire Bahamas Olympic team members will mix and mingle with the Bahamian public,” according to a press release. The celebrations for the entire team will take place almost a month after a celebration was held for Shaunae Miller for winning the gold medal in the 400m.