The Belize National Senior Women's Volleyball Team enjoyed 4 victories to win the bronze medal at the 12th Central American Games at the Teodoro Palacios Gymnasium in Guatemala City from October 17-21.
In the bronze medal match on Tuesday, the Belize girls dominated their arch-rivals, Guatemala, 3-1, led by pint-sized outside hitter Gareth Bruce who hammered kills at the net on plays set by Ziane Henderson, and scored a block to tally 14 pts. Middle blocker Herdie Castillo hammered 9 kills, 1 kill block and served an ace, to win the 1st set, 25-13. Nelissa Ramirez scored 11 hits at the net, and middle blocker Kevanna Sebastian towered over the net to score 4 hits, 2 blocks, and veteran Shantell Arnold hammered 4 hits and 2 blocks, to win the 2nd set, 25-19.
Maria Santa Cruz rallied the chapinas' counterattack with 18 pts, Aury Priscila Alvarez scored 13 pts, and Ivana Sopegno added 10 pts. They also profited from Belize's 19 errors, to win the 3rd set, 25-14.
The Belize team refocused, and Ziane Henderson scored 2 kill blocks, a hit and served an ace, and Samantha Jones scored a hit, as Belize profited from the chapinas' 34 errors, to win the 4th set, 25-21.
Belize had not done so well in Monday's semifinals, in which they lost, 1-3, to the silver medalists, Nicaragua. Top scorer Nelissa Ramirez led Belize's attack with 19 pts, Herdie Castillo scored 10 pts, and Gareth Bruce and Shantell Arnold hit 9 pts each. Ziane Henderson scored 4 pts and Clara Sabal and Dhivani Gurnani scored 3 pts each. The "pinoleras" conceded 19 pts by errors and service faults, but prevailed: 25-19, 25-14, 22-25, 25-18.
Belize had advanced to the semifinals undefeated with 3 wins: 27-25, 25-17, 24-26 and 25-23 over Honduras last Friday, eliminating Guatemala 3-2 on Saturday, and dominating Panama: 25-23, 25-20, 25-18 on Sunday.
Team captain Nelissa Ramirez won the individual award for Best Scorer of the tournament, tallying 74 pts by 68 hits, 3 blocks and 3 aces. Defending champions Costa Rica won the Gold: 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 over Nicaragua. El Salvador won 5th place, Honduras - 6th, and Panama -7th.
Men's Volleyball
Belize's Francis Hauze won 2nd Best Spiker and Kyron Sutherland won 2nd Best Blocker in the individual awards of the male tournament. The Belize National Senior Male Volleyball Team had also qualified to the men's semifinals by 2 wins: 3-0 over Honduras last Friday, and 3-0 over El Salvador on Sunday, even though they lost: 13-25, 22-25, and 12-25 to Costa Rica on Saturday. Nicaragua eliminated them from the finals: 25-21, 25-21, 25-21. They also lost the bronze medal match to Panama: 2-3. Costa Rica won the Gold, 3-1, over Nicaragua.
Athletics
Nyasha Harris won Belize's first medal in Quetzaltenango on Saturday - Silver in the women's 100 meters, running 11.86 seconds - a personal best and a considerable improvement over her 12.25 secs at the World Championships in Tokyo in July. Guatemala's Miriandree Chacon won the Gold in 11.66 secs, and Nicaragua's Maria Carmona took the Bronze in 11.93 secs.
Brandon Jones won Belize's 2nd medal - Bronze in the Triple Jump, as he hopped, skipped and jumped 15.49 meters. El Salvador's Fernando Reyes won the Gold at 15.78m, and Honduras' Jason Castro took the Silver at 15.76m.
Kamron Gentle ran 11.16 seconds to finish 6th in the Men's 100 meters, in which Panama's Arturo Deliser won Gold in 10.38 secs, Costa Rica's Alejandro Ricketts took the Silver in 10.50 secs, and El Salvador's Jose Salazar claimed the Bronze in 10.75 secs
Softball, etc.
Belize softball men lost, 0-10, vs Panama on Friday; 0-10 vs Honduras on Saturday; 0-15 vs Costa Rica on Sunday; 0-10 vs Guatemala, and 0-9 vs Nicaragua on Tuesday. They returned home Thursday morning.
Belize's softball girls travelled on Tuesday and arrived in Guatemala City early Wednesday morning; they play their first game on Friday, October 24.
Belize also competed in cycling, judo, fencing, lawn tennis, and triathlon, but with little success.