The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BIANCA 'BB' Stuart put the icing on another fantastic day of competition for Team Bahamas by winning her first major international medal with a silver in the women's long jump on Friday at the 17th Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

Stuart, competing in the third final for the Bahamas, popped a leap of 6.69 metres or 21-feet, 11 1/2-inches on her fourth attempt to add to the silver medal that Leevan 'Superman' Sands picked up earlier in the day in the men's triple jump. The two medals extended the Bahamas total to five, after Jeffery Gibson captured the gold in the men's 400m hurdles and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won gold in the women's 50m freestyle and bronze in the 100m free last week.

The five medals have the Bahamas sitting in 16th spot ahead of Puerto Rico and trailing Trinidad & Tobago in 15th and Jamaica in 14th. In athletics alone, the Bahamas is now in eighth spot behind Brazil and just ahead of Colombia.

Also on Friday, the women 4 x 100m relay teams joined the men and women 4 x 400m teams in qualifying for the finals on Saturday. The men's 4 x 100m team, however, fell short of advancement. The men's team of Johnathan Farquharson, Teray Smith, Elroy McBride and Warren Fraser ran 39.53, but it was only good enough for fifth place in their heat that was won by Trinidad & Tobago in 39.52. The Bahamas finished 10th overall.

In the women's 4 x100m, the team of Devynne Charlton, Tylar Carter, Sheniqua 'Q' Ferguson and Adanaca Brown ran 44.34 to finish second in their heat behind the United Stats, who won in 43.07. The Bahamas, who had the fifth fastest time overall, will run out of lane six in the final on Saturday, sandwiched between Canada in five and Cuba in six. But they may have to do it without Anthonique Strachan, who stopped running in the 200m final earlier in the day when she came off the curve in lane eight and held her left hamstring. She didn't finish the race.

Meanwhile, Stuart, the 27-year-old national record holder, has had a good showing in the region, winning a bronze in the CAC Games in 2010 in Mayaquez and gold twice at the CAC Championships in 2008 and 2011 and a bronze in 2013 to set the stage for her trip to the World Championships in Beijing.

She finished behind Canadian Christabel Nettey, who won the gold with 6.80m (22-3 3/4) on her fifth attempt. American She'Kela Saunders got the bronze with 6.64m (21-91/2). Stuart opened with 6.32m (20-9) for fifth on her first attempt, but dropped to eighth with 6.37m (20-103/4) on her second attempt. She moved into third with 6.57m (21-63/4) on her third attempt and, after surging to second with her best leap, she maintained it with 6.67m (21-103/4) on her fifth jump before she scratched her sixth and final attempt.

Stuart, who lowered her national record to 6.83m (22-5) at the BAAA's Nationals, is hoping to add a medal in Beijing to her collection.