Mixed Fortunes for Grenada at CYG '08

by Michael Bascombe

TUESDAY October 14, Pune, India - There were mixed fortunes for Grenada on the first day of track and field at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India on Tuesday.

Rondell Bartholomew, Kirani James and Melika Lewis advanced to the semifinal rounds of their respective events while Antonia Wilson failed to qualify in the women's 1500 metres.

Bartholomew, running out of lane two, clocked the fastest qualifying time over the 400 metres (48.08secs) while James won heat five in 48.61secs to be among the fourth fastest to qualify for the semifinals.

James will run the first semifinal from lane four around 8am Eastern Caribbean Time Tuesday, with Bartholomew in the second semifinal in lane five, 10 minutes later.

A bit earlier around 7:20 this morning, Lewis, who was fourth in the women's 100 metres in 12.65 secs, runs out of lane one in semifinal three. She will run alongside Caribbean competitors Gizelle Wright of the Cayman Islands and Marecia Pemberton of St Kitts and Nevis.

Meantime, Wilson was not so lucky after she missed out on qualifying for the next round of the 1500 metres. She was 7th in lane two in 5:04.56. However, the event saw the first Games Record of the Track Meet with Stacy Ndiwa of Kenya setting a new mark of 4:23.53.

Swimming, the other competing event for Grenada, starts on Wednesday.