Guyana adds 2 bronzes to SA medal count

 Guyana’s medal count at the South American Senior Championships moved up to five on Monday, following two bronze-worthy performances. The local contingent managed to accumulate one silver and four bronze medals over the busy weekend in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Andrea Foster crossed the line third in the women’s 800 metres event, with a time of 2.05.93 for the final podium position. Uruguay’s Deborah Rodriguez clocked 2.03.38 to win the event, and Brazil’s Maria de Lima Flavia came second with 2.05.00.
Foster bettered her preliminary time of 2.07.93, which she clocked to make it into Monday’s final. In that race, she was second to Daniella Squire of Argentina, who finished first with 2.07.44.
On the men’s side of the draw, Quamel Prince was split seconds slower than his qualifying time, but it was not good enough for the podium. On Sunday, Prince ran 1.40.1 in the preliminary race, ahead of Guyana’s Devaun Barrington who ran 1.50.99, missing out on the final.
In the final, Prince clocked 1.49.48 for fifth place. Brazil’s Andre Thiago Do Rosario championed the event with 1.45.62, while Colombia’s Jhonatan Rodriguez and Venezuela’s Ryan Ignaiker Lopez Parra clocked 1.47.01 and 1.47.78 for second and third, respectively.
Also securing bronze for Guyana were the men’s 4x100m team. The relay team comprising Jeremy Bascom, Akeem Stewart, Emmanuel Archibald and Noelex Holder came home in 40.02s.
Brazil took gold in the event with a time of 39.10s while Colombia clocked 39.65s for second place.
In the 200m event, though finishing fifth in their respective heats, Akeem Stewart ran a better time (21.18s) than Arinze Chance (21.84s), to be the lone Guyanese in the final.
However, it was a story of heartbreak for Stewart as he was disqualified for a false start in the final.
The Brazilian pair of Felipe Bardi and Vilar Lucas Conceicao walked away with the top two positions in the race, finishing 20.49s and 20.62s respectively. Anderson Espinales was third with 20.63s.
Over the weekend, Archibald, Guyana’s long jump record holder, bagged a silver in the men’s 100m sprint. He clocked 10.23s behind Brazil’s Bardi, who finished first with 10.10s. His fortunes were not the same in his signature event, as he finished seventh in the long jump with a best jump of 7.75m. Fellow long jumper Micaiah Washington also came up short with a best jump of 7.34m.
On the distaff side, Jasmine Abrams copped bronze in the 100m after clocking 11.50s. Crossing the line before her were Brazil’s Cristina Silva and Ecuador’s Marizol Landazuri, who recorded times of 11.31s and 11.39s for second and third respectively.
Also finishing third was Jenea McCammon, who competed in the 100m hurdles. Clocking 13.63s, the Guyanese was preceded by Brazil’s Ketiley Batista (12.96s) and Peru’s Diana Bazalar (13.47s).
In another unproductive outing, Chance missed out in the final of the 400m event, clocking 46.81s for fourth place. Kelvis Jose Villazana of Venezuela was the first man to cross the line with 45.82s, while Brazil’s Lucas Da Silva Carvalho and Raul Pedroza of Colombia were second and third with 46.31s and 46.58s.