Track athletes finish Commonwealth run

(CIOC): A number of Cayman athletes wrapped up their sojourn in Scotland. Gymnast Bethany Dikau, 17, finished 37th out of 40 athletes in the artistic gymnastics event. For the floor segment, Dikau had a score of 10.766 points and registered 11 points in the vault, 7.666 points in the uneven bars and 9.466 points on the balance beam for an all-around score of 38.898. Each apparatus carried a maximum of 15 points, with 60 points being the overall top score. Dikau, the first gymnast in Cayman’s history to compete at the Games, said she certainly felt the scale of the competition.

“I was definitely nervous but I was more excited so I had a lot more energy,” Dikau said. “I think that overtook my nervousness. I just took it skill by skill and then after I was done, I was relieved that I was done. But it went well so it was exciting.”

On the track, most of Cayman’s athletes failed to advance beyond the preliminary stages. Hurdler Ronald Forbes was fifth in his 110m hurdles heat, posting a time of 13.89 seconds. Ashleigh Nalty finished 11th in her high jump group with a leap of 1.71 meters – her best mark of the season. 

Carlos Morgan was eighth in group A of the long jump with a leap of 7.41m, while twin brother Carl Morgan was 11th in group B of the long jump with a mark of 6.99m. Tyrell Cuffy finished fifth in heat seven of the 200m with a time of 21.75 seconds and David Hamil placed seventh in heat nine of the 200m at 22.02 seconds.

Earlier in the week, sprinter Kemar Hyman offered a bright spot by advancing to the semis of the 100m. He would place sixth in his heat with a time of 10.31 seconds. He previously won his preliminary race in a time of 10.20 seconds.

Off the track, the shooting team wrapped up its Scotland performance. Chris Jackson, 47, was 20th in round one of the trap event, nailing 42 out of 50 clay targets. In round two, he would place 29th after hitting 55 out of 75 targets.

Over on the squash courts, the doubles event went into its second day. On the men’s side, Julian Jervis and Myron Blair started out by losing to India before beating Uganda. For the mixed doubles, Cameron Stafford and Marlene West lost to Australia before beating Zambia while Daniel Murphy and Eilidh Bridgeman lost to Malaysia before beating Papua New Guinea.