CARIBBEAN TODAY


Jamaica's Reggae Boyz salvage


 pride in soccer draw with U.S.


Jamaican stars shine at

 112th Penn Relays


 GORDON WILLIAMS
Jamaica took a big step
 towards regaining lost
 international soccer credi-
bility last month by battling to
a hard fought 1-1 draw with
the fancied United States at
the SAS Soccer Park in
Cary, North Carolina.
 The Reggae Boyz,
arguably the top ranked team
in the Caribbean, but forced
to watch regional rivals
Trinidad and Tobago play in
this summer's World Cup in
Germany after failing in
their own qualifying bid, had
slipped badly following a 5-0
thrashing to Australia late last
year.
 However, on April 11 the
Boyz rallied with a relatively
inexperienced team to hold a
U.S. team hungry for a win
following its own embarrass-
ing 4-1 loss to Germany
recently. The match marked
the 17th time the two coun-
tries had met and going into
the game Jamaica had never
beaten its highly rated CON-
CACAF rivals. The final
result still kept the Reggae
Boyz winless against the
Americans, but helped them
score valuable recognition as a
program to be reckoned with
on the international soccer
scene.
 "Yeah, it was a good
result for us in terms of the
whole marketing of the
team," said a happy Wendell
Downswell, Jamaica's techni-
cal director, after the game,
which was played on a cool
night in front of a standing
room only crowd of 8,093.
"...Overall the result was


quite satisfying."
 Downswell's full squad,
assembled for only a single
training session the evening
before the game, and missing
several experienced and
proven performers, snatched
 an early lead
 to silence the
 partisan
 home crowd
 before many
 had even set-
 tled in their
 seats. Striker
 Teofore
 Bennett
Downswell slipped in
 behind the
 U.S.defense
in the fourth minute to collect
a precise pass from midfielder
Jermaine Hue and easily beat
goalkeeper Tony Meola, who
was making his 100th appear-
ance for the American nation-
al team.
 Roused by the early set-
back, the U.S. swarmed all
over Jamaica's half of the field
and earned a 25th minute
equalizer when quick thinking
captain Landon Donovan
passed to Ben Olsen who fired
a shot that was deflected by
Jamaica's goalkeeper
Donovan Ricketts before set-
tling into the net.

JAMAICA CREDIT
 From then on the game
was marked by steady streams
of attacks by the U.S. and
stout defending by Jamaica,
spliced in with occasional
attacking forays by the Boyz.
Both teams came close to
breaking the deadlock, but in
the end the result appeared to
justify what transpired on the


field. U.S. coach Bruce Arena,
who was expected to name his
World Cup squad early this
month, expressed disappoint-
ment in his team's surrender
of the early goal, but praised
Jamaica's performance in the
match.
 "Give Jamaica credit,"
said Arena, who hoped to use
the game to assess players
vying for spots on his World
Cup roster. "I thought they
did well with that (scoring)
opportunity. For the night I
think they gave great effort
and defended pretty well."
 Jamaica too looked to
analyze its young squad, and
although Downswell said he
would have loved to see the
Reggae Boyz break their win-
less streak against the U.S., he
returned to the Caribbean
with a better handle on his tal-
ented group.
 "Overall the game was
played in good spirits," he
said. "...We have tried a num-
ber of young players and a
few of them we were really
impressed with. Definitely we
have to have another look at
them again in another game."
 That chance comes in the
next few weeks. Jamaica is
scheduled to play World Cup
bound Ghana and England in
Britain. According to Jamaica
Football Federation President
Crenston Boxhill, the Ghana
match is scheduled for
Leicester on May 29. The
England game is set for
June 3 in Manchester.

Gordon Williams is Caribbean
Today's managing editor.
0


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19)
the 4x100 were from Jamaica,
and finished in that order. In
the 4x400 Jamaican schools
took the top three places.
 Holmwood's boys 4x800
team also won in a time of
7:43.35 seconds.

INDIVIDUAL
BRILLIANCE
 In the individual events,
the Jamaicans were again, fin-
ishing first or in the top three
several times.
 Sherene Pinnock of
Edwin Allen Comprehensive
clocked a new meet record
56.90 to win the 400 meters
hurdles. She was named high
school girls athlete for indi-
vidual events. Other champi-
onship winners on the first
day were Taniesha Blair of
Holmwood Technical in the
girls javelin, with a throw of
46.08 meters, and Kimberly
Williams of Vere Technical in
the triple jump with a leap of
12.47 meters. Second in that
event was Kimona Smith of
Morant Bay.
 On the final day of the
meet, which ran from April
27-29, Jason Robertson of
Wolmer's recorded yet anoth-
er victory for the Jamaicans,
winning the 400 meters hur-
dles in 52.89.
 Jamaicans also excelled in
the field events. Alain Bailey
of Kingston College won the
high school boys long jump
championship with a leap of
7.46 meters. The runner-up
spots were also taken by
Jamaican athletes, with
Wolmer's Julian Reid (7.39)


and Calabar's Nicholas
Gordon (7.02) finishing sec-
ond and third.


Pinnock set a new meet record.


The high school championship
boys triple jump was won by
Robert Peddlar of Wolmer's
with 14.73 meters. Third was
Sean Powell of Munro
College. Jamaica College's
Sharif Small finished second
in the boys championship dis-
cuss throw with 53.44 meters.
 Several Caribbean ath-
letes also competed for col-
leges and clubs at the meet.

Gordon Williams is
Caribbean Today's managing
editor.
0


BRIEFS


* Windies players agree to
deal
 After more than a year
of squabbling, the West
Indies Cricket Board
(WICB) and the West Indies
Players Association (WIPA)
finally agreed to terms on
the controversial retainer
contract for players last
month.
 WICB President Ken
Gordon, announced that a
group of between eight and
12 players will be contracted.
WIPA President Dinanath
Ramnarine, said the players
to be retained would be cho-
sen by the selectors.

* Jamaica tops regional U-15
cricket
 Jamaica earned top hon-
ors in the CLICO West
Indies Under-15 cricket tour-
nament which was played
last month in Antigua and


Barbuda.
 Jamaica finished the com-
petition unbeaten to secure
the title with a round remain-
ing, defeating Leeward
Islands, Barbados, Guyana
and Trinidad and Tobago.

* K.C., Holmwood take
'Champs' titles
 Kingston College and
Holmwood Technical fin-
ished on top at the popular
and highly competitive 2006
VMBS/ISSA Boys and Girls
Athletics Championships last
month in Jamaica.
 K.C. won the boys section
with 233.5 points, for a two-
point edge over rivals Calabar.
In the girls, Holmwood earned
319 points to finish ahead of
Vere Technical on 302.5.
Compiled from several wire
services.
0


MIAMI GETS A KICK FROM SOCCER


L ~LL]


Members of Miami F.C. soccer club take the field last month for an exhibition game against Caribbean champions Portmore
United of Jamaica. Miami F.C., which carries a roster that includes Caribbean-born players Sean Fraser of Jamaica and Haiti's
Stephane Guillaume, is the city's newest professional sports franchise. It plays in the United Soccer Leagues (USL), which
began last month.


May 2006