The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

National champions Charles Reckley, Shakeria Ferguson, Angelica Wallace-Whitfield, Enderich Rahming and Giovanne Farrington will head the Bahamas’ 22-member team that will compete at the 2017 Central American and Caribbean Championships.

The championships will be held in Mexico City, Mexico, September 28 to October 1. The team will be managed by Nardo Dean and Jan Johnson will serve as the women’s coach, while Raymond Tucker will be the men’s coach. Dr Cyprian Strachan will be the team physician.

In naming the team along with Tucker, Dean said it’s a young, versatile team mixed with some veteran competitors who should make a very good showing in the championships, although they are a Spanish-speaking territory where the competition is generally much stiffer than in the English-speaking countries.

“This time it’s again in a Spanish-speaking region so of course all Spanish-speaking countries will definitely be there in full force,” Dean stated. “It’s always Venezuela and San Salvador and Puerto Rico as the three top key ones there for us. In our region, we are always head-to-head with Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. That’s our little family of competition right there.

“It’s up for grabs, but going so far away, our team is not as big as we want it to be because we would like to have A and B team also and carry more athletes, but our turnout this year at Nationals was a little smaller. Although it was good and the mere fact that we had a lot of new persons, that was very encouraging. But we are looking forward to bigger and better things next year with a stronger team.”

The team will comprise of the following:

Men’s bodybuilding - Sidney Outten, men’s masters and heavyweight divisions; Jimmy Norius, men’s masters and middleweight; Charles Reckley, men’s bodybuilding welterweight; Paul Wilson, men’s bodybuilding welterweight; Giovanne Farrington, men’s bodybuilding light heavyweight and Bernard Davis, men’s bodybuilding super heavyweight.

Women’s figure - Dekel Nesbitt, open figure D class; Tammy Stubbs, women’s figure A class; Chritiann Butler, figure B class.

Bikini - Shakira Ferguson, open bikini D class; Tashara Seymour, open bikini F class;

Women’s Physique - Tamara Moxey-Green, open physique; Lakiesha Miller, open physique.

Wellness - Cara Saunders, open A class; Angelika Wallace-Whitfield, open B class.

Men’s physique - Antone Shepherd, junior physique and open E class; Terran Mackey, open A class; Alberto Armbrister, open B class; Gemo Smith, open D class; Enderich Rahming, E class; Sheikh Ellis, open E class; Jay Darling, muscular physique open B class.

“We have a lot of new members of the team, but we will coach them along, making sure they get their stance right and they have the proper equipment and hopefully they can get into the final and make it in the top three,” Tucker said. “It’s a transition period for the federation because we re trying to regroup.

“There are some members who have decided to sit out this year and there are a lot of new members, if you look at the names here. They are willing to give it a try because they believe in themselves and they believe the federation could propel them to excellence.”

Every year there seemed to be an additional division added to the competition and that is because the sport continue to grow, according to Tucker.

“The IFBB would not just want the Raymond Tucker and the Nardo Dean to be there, but they want the athletes who don’t want to show all of their accolades on the stage. We partly cloth you or we half way fully cloth you and we allow you to be relaxed on the stage and you are able to present the package that you want to present and to be comfortable with it,”

Dean said the good thing about the additional categories I that it allow for more people to be able to obtain their professional cards as the winners of each category instead of just the overall champion of bodybuilding, which was the case not so long ago.

“I think they are seeing the consistency of these athletes coming year after year that are winning their divisions year after year and still not getting their pro cards,” Dean stressed. “So comparing us to a lot of the MPC shows and pre qualifiers on the US circuit, from the Caribbean regional standpoint, I think they are now allowing the Caribbean athletes to really get their pro cards in a more consistent basis from competition to competition.

“A lot of our Caribbean athletes would compete in the Caribbean here and then they would want to go in a US show just to get a pro card when they were quite eligible for it and have the physique and the ability and the potential to get that same pro card right here in the Caribbean.”

Also accompanying the team at the championships will be federation president Joel Stubbs; vice president Kenny Stubbs; Danny Sumner, CAC Senior Vice President of Antilles Region and Area President; Britney Hamilton, treasurer; Lillian Moncur, general secretary; Timothy Rolle, team security and protocol officer as well as Wellington Sears and Nicole Richardson as judges.

During the federation’s nationals and novice championships combined on Saturday, August 12 at Loyola Hall, Gladstone Road, Reckley won over the men’s overall bodybuilding title and was named the most muscular as the welterweight champion. Giovanne Farringtonm, the light heavyweight winner, was the best poser. Other divisional winners were Jimmy Norius in the middleweight; Sidney Outten in the heavyweight and Bernard Davis in the super heavyweight.

Jomar Farrington was the light heavyweight runner up and Rick Roberts got third.

Shakeria Ferguson emerged as the overall champion in the women’s open bikini. She took the C class. Akaela Nesbitt won the A class and the junior B class, while Tashara Seymour won the E class over Nadia Vanderpool and Stacy Sargent in that order.

Angelika Wallace-Whitfield was the overall women’s wellness class, taking the B title over Cara Saunders. Daphane Fox was the A class winner.

Jay Darling won the men’s muscular physique as the D champion over Rasheid Edgecombe. Andrew Brennen was the E class winner.

Enderich Rahming took the E class in the men’s open physique and the overall title. He beat out Anton Shepard and Cornelius Knowles in his category. Terran Knowles was the A class winner; Alberto Armbrister won the B class over Patrick Rolle and Floyd Collie. Brendan Hanna won the C class. Gemo Smith won the D class over Joel Hall and Arron Mackey.

The men’s junior physique was won by James Bain, followed by Floyd Collie and Jeremy Misiewicz.

Tanya Moxey-Green was the women’s physique winner over Tammy Stubbs.

Dekel Nesbitt captured the women’s open figure, taking the D class. Chritiann Butler won the B class.

Nathan Morley was the lone competitor in the men’s fitness, taking the B class.

Jimmy Norius also didn’t have any competition as he captured the men’s masters open.

But there was a showdown in the men’s grand masters category with Sidney Outten out-duelling Arthur Eldon for the open title.