JUNIOR PAN AM GAMEST&T’s 4×100 women seal Pan Am silver

WALTER ALIBEY

Senior Multimedia Reporter

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T&T’s sprint quartet of Alexxe Henry, Shaniqua Bascombe, Sierra Joseph, and Janae De Gannes earned this country its 11th medal of the Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay, last night, when they sprinted to the silver medal in the Women’s 4×100 metre final at the Athletic Stadium.

Running out of lane two, the foursome put on a good display in the final to cross the finish line in a quick time of 543.89 seconds, having benefited from an equally quick reaction time of 0.166 seconds.

Jamaica claimed the top spot and the gold medal in 43.51 seconds, coming from the foursome of Sabrina Dockery, Marissa Palmer, Serena Cole, and Alana Reid. The Jamaicans were the fastest out of the blocks at 0.152, and though they faced a challenging field, the Jamaicans, who have made a name for themselves worldwide in track and field, and in particular the sprints, could not be stopped.

Colombia claimed the third-place bronze medal, courtesy of the dogged display of the team of Marleth Ospino, Laura Martinez, Maibys Ortiz, and Natalia Linares, crossing the finish line in a time of 44.01 seconds.

Meanwhile, the teams from Brazil, Cuba, and Paraguay completed the top six spots in times of 45.72, 47.28, and 48.98 seconds.

T&T’s 11 medals came from Bascombe, who won the women’s 100-metre sprint, with Jaden Marchan taking the silver medal in the men’s 400-metre final on Wednesday night. The other medals are bronze medals.

Meanwhile, Keneisha Shelborne missed out on mounting the podium in the women’s triple jump by finishing fifth with a jump of 13.18 metres. Shelborne’s effort came after her fourth attempt, after hovering in and around distances of 12.80 to 13.11 all night.

That event was won by Lidsay Gonzalez of Cuba, who lifted herself to a height of 13.96, which came after only her third try.

Paola De Real of Mexico secured the runner-up silver medal with a height of 13.58, while another Cuban, Ariday Giron, was third, after her sixth and last attempt at 13.43 took her to the medal podium.