Four of the six Trinidadians charged last week Friday, August 12, in connection with the assault on Grenada's Anderson Peters, the 2022 World javelin champion, pleaded guilty in the St George's Magistrates Court in Grenada on Monday.
They are set to return to the St George’s No.1 Magistrates Court on Wednesday facing the possibility of a maximum five-year prison sentence and hefty fines.
Mikhail John, a 35-year-old sailor, John Alexander, a 55-year-old deckhand, Noel Cooper, 42, the captain of the Harbour Master party boat, and Sheon Jack, a 28-year-old sailor, all pleaded guilty to charges of grievous harm against Anderson Peters and his brother Kiddon.
Prosecutors dropped the charges against 40-year-old Abiola Benjamin after a review of a video of the incident showed he was trying to separate the men involved in the altercation in which Peters suffered injuries to his ankle, elbow and face and was thrown overboard.
Meanwhile, 45-year-old sailor Lance Wiggins pleaded not guilty to the charges and was eventually released after prosecutors decided that the evidence against him was insufficient to bring about a successful prosecution.
Peters, 24, was involved in a brawl aboard the Harbour Master on the night of Wednesday, August 10. Video of the incident showed several men attacking and punching Peters, who had travelled home for a brief vacation after winning the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England a few days prior.
His coach Paul Phillip said the two-time world champion suffered from what appeared to be an ankle sprain as well as bruises to his elbow, neck and face, which put his participation in the Lausanne Diamond League meeting on August 26 in doubt.
In a statement released on the weekend, the captain of the Harbour Master claimed that it was Peters who was the aggressor and is what triggered the beat-down the elite athlete suffered.
Peters and his brother were in court Monday and were seated behind the six suspects. Reports indicate that Peters and his brother have retained the services of attorney Derick Sylvester with a view to filing a civil suit against the guilty.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
With her final leap of 6.88m, Jamaica's Ackelia Smith wins long jump gold for Texas at NCAA Outdoor championships
Ackelia Smith fouled her first two jumps and was in danger of not advancing to the finals but she then found her footing to advance to the final round. There, with her final jump of the competition, she won gold on day two of the 2023 NCAA Division 1 Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.
Smith, a sophomore at the University of Texas, uncorked a leap of 6.88m to take the lead late from Alyssa Jones of Stanford, who had earlier produced a lifetime best of 6.86m.
Jones fouled her final jump and thus had to settle for second place.
Jasmine Moore of Florida took the bronze with 6.66m.
Smith’s victory came a day after fellow Jamaican Carey McLeod representing the University of Arkansas won the men’s long jump with a leap of 8.26m with Wayne Pinnock, his college teammate and fellow Jamaican, finishing second with 8.15m.
A third Jamaican, Jordan Turner of the University of Kentucky (8.13m) was third.
The final of the 100m barn burner as medal favourites Ackera Nugent, Alia Armstrong and Masai Russell all advanced to the finals. Razorback Nugent won her heat in 12.55, the second fastest time of the finalists. LSU’s Armstrong was only 0.01 faster having won her heat in 12.54.
Russell won her heat in 12.76.
Demisha Roswell, the 2022 Big 12 champion, failed to advance with her time of 12.99, the 11th fastest time of the semi-finals.
Having dominated the sprints all season, it was no surprise when Texas Longhorn senior Julien Alfred advanced to the final of both the 100m and 200m on Saturday.
The St Lucian led a Texas 1-2-3-4 in the first of three semi-final heats winning in 10.99 with Kevona Davis finishing second in 11.04. Davis’ time was the third-fastest heading into the final as Texas Tech’s Rosemary Chukwuma, the last woman to beat Alfred, ran 11.01 to advance.
An hour later, Alfred won her 200m semi-final heat in 22.33, the same time as Davis, who also won the first of the three semi-finals. Alfred (22.321), however, was the fastest having run 0.007 faster than Davis (22.328), who has been rounding into form throughout the season.
The pair were running on tired legs after the 100m semis and a blistering 4x100m relay heat that Texas won in 41.55, a new meet, facility and championship record.
Former Vere Technical runner, Nickisha Pryce, a junior at Arkansas, ran a lifetime best of 50.31 to advance to the final of the 400m. Only, the two gold medal favorites Britton Wilson also of Arkansas, who ran a new meet and facility record of 49.36 and Texas’ Rhasidat Adekele, who won her heat in 49.86 were faster.
JC and Cayman sprinter Jaiden Reid commits to LSU
Caymanian sprinter Jaiden Reid has decided to compete for the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers next season, the school announced on social media on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old had an excellent 2023 season competing for Jamaica College and the Cayman Islands.
He ran a personal best and Caymanian junior record 10.24 in the Class 1 Boys 100m semis at the ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships in March. He then took bronze in the final with 10.26. A week later, Reid also reached the Under-20 Boys 100m final at the 50th Carifta Games in Nassau, running 10.63 for sixth.
Reid has a 200m personal best of 20.91 done at the Corporate Area Development Meet at the national Stadium in Kingston last year. He competed in the event at the World Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia that same year, running 21.53 for sixth in his heat.
He was also a member of the Jamaica College quartet that produced 40.97 to win the Championship of America 4x100m at the Penn Relays this year.
Arkansas' McLeod, Pinnock go 1-2 in NCAA Div. 1 long jump final, Kentucky's Turner wins bronze
Carey McLeod was crowned 2023 long jump champion as the 2023 NCAA Division 1 National Outdoor Track and Field Championships got underway in Austin, Texas on Wednesday.
McLeod led a University of Arkansas 1-2 finish as Wayne Pinnock won the silver medal while Jordan Turner of the University of Kentucky made it a Jamaican 1-2-3 when he won bronze.
From a totally Jamaican perspective it was a Kingston College 1-2 with Calabar High third.
McLeod, the 2023 NCAA Indoor champion achieved the winning mark of 8.26m in the opening round equalling the facility record set by Steffin McCarter of Texas in 2021. Pinnock, the 2022 champion, followed leapt out to 8.15m for silver with Turner only two centimetres behind with 8.13m.
McLeod is the sixth Razorback to win a NCAA Outdoor long jump while Pinnock won the program’s sixth silver medal.
Meanwhile, Arkansas’ Phillip Lemonious was the fastest through to the finals of the 110m hurdles with a personal best 13.28. Fellow Jamaican Giano Roberts, representing Clemson University was also among the automatic qualifiers when he finished second in semi-final three with a personal best of 13.35.
Rasheem Brown of the Cayman Islands, a senior at the University of Tennessee also ran a personal best of 13.53 to advance to the finals that will be run on Friday.
It wasn’t all good news for Caribbean athletes however as Clemson’s Tarees Rhoden did not finish his 800m semi-final after leading at the end of the opening lap while Navasky Anderson struggled to a third place finish in his semi-final heat but his time of 1:48.79 was not fast enough to see him advance to the Friday final.
Rhoden will have a shot at a 4x400m relay medal after helping Clemson to a time of 2:59.78 that saw the advance to the final.
Barbados’ Rasheeme Griffith, a junior at Tennessee, ran 49.00, the third-fastest time going into the final of the 400m hurdles. He finished third in the last of three and fastest of the semi-final. Alabama Chris Robinson won the heat in 48.79 with Baylor University’s Nathaniel Ezekiel finishing second in 48.95.
Jamaica’s national 400m champion JeVaughn Powell is through to the final of the 400m with a time of 45.02. The University of Florida junior’s time was the seventh fastest to qualify.
Justin Robinson of Arizona State ran a time of 44.54 to lead all qualifiers into the final set for Friday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
