Norman, Drake Dominate KPMG Regatta

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The top junior sailors in the country were on display in one of the landmark events on the sports’ calendar – the KPMG Winter Youth Regatta.

Over the course of two days at Montague, the sailors faced gusting winds one day and low winds the other – but in the end – Norman Cartwright and Drake Knowles emerged as two of the top performers.

Cartwright, sailing out of the Nassau Yacht cClub, won the ILCA 6 Division

He finished first in all six races for a net total of five points.

Knowles, sailing out of the Mack Knowles Junior Sailing Club in Long Island, accomplished the same feat to win the Optimist Championship.

He took first in all six races in the series en route to to the title.

After watching his older brother dominate the ILCA 6, Nash Cartwright took first place in the ILCA 4 class.

The Bahamas National Sailing School product tied in points with Lyford Cay Sailing’s Armann Manwatkar, but was named the overall winner on a tie-breaker.

In the optimist green fleet, James Hunnicutt out of the Bahamas National Sailing School took first place while his teammate Kai Harvey took first place in the sunfish class.

Baseball

LDK performance highlighted its national weekend with a pro showcase featuring the top youth baseball players in the country.

New York Mets first base coach Antoan Richardson, Chicago White Sox operations analyst Ethan Bain and the remainder of the LDK team hosted dozens of major league scouts at the Andre Rodgers Stadium.

Players from as young as 12 were invited to the showcase, looking for opportunities to further their careers on the baseball diamond.

The showcase concluded a week of events aimed at showcasing young Bahamian baseball players to an international audience.

LDK and the MLB players alumni association hosted a free camp and the organization also joined with Arawak Homes to host a group panel discussion on the life of a student athlete.

Track and Field

The NCAA indoor season is underway and Bahamians are already putting up record setting performances.

Hurdler Oscar Smith Jr highlighted the day for his Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at the Rod McCrary track and field meet in Louisville, Kentucky.

Injuries kept Smith sidelined for nearly two years, but his return to official competition produced a personal best and a new school record in the 60m hurdles – 7.74 secs.

Smith first set the new program record in the prelims in 7.82 secs and lowered that time in the final.

800m national record holder Joel Forbes added another milestone to his resume, this time indoors.

Forbes set a new national record in the 600m at the Commodore Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee.

Running unattached, he finished in 1:18.26 secs to surpass the previous record of 1:18.29 secs set by andre colebrook in 2017.

In the field, Calea Jackson opened her indoor season with a second place finish in the weight throw at the Gamecock opener in Colombia, South Carolina.

The Miami Hurricanes sophomore threw 18.09m 

At the Badgers midwest invite in Wisconsin, Chicago state’s Raymond Oriakhi Jr was second in the final of the men’s 60m hurdles in 8.02 seconds. 

At the McFerrin-12 degree invitational at the Bryan College Station in Texas, Olympic quarter-miler Javonya Valcourt, now in her junior year at Tennessee, was third in the women’s 300m final in 27.55 secs.

NBA
Bahamians struggled from the field and their teams struggled on the scoreboard in NBA action Tuesday night.

Eric Gordon scored in double figures in back to back games for the first time this season, but his Philadelphia 76ers lost 118-102 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Gordon finished with 10 points and shot 3-8 from three.

Deandre Ayton scored just two points on four field goal attempts and grabbed eight rebounds in his Portland Trailblazers 132-114 loss to Brooklyn Nets.

Klay Thompson scored 8 points for the Dallas Mavericks in  their 118-99 loss to the denver nuggets.