CARIBBEAT: Runners and jumpers ready for the Colgate Women’s Games
Elementary school runner Kunusasha Medas-King has amassed an impressive amount of local and national honors in a wide range of races, from 200 to 1500 meters. With powers on the track come special sources — the dedicated coaching of her Guyana-born father Andy Medas-King, and the lessons in competition and camaraderie she’s gained through the popular Colgate Women’s Games.
In the 48th edition of America’s largest track and field series for women and girls, the Colgate-Palmolive company is touting a significant increase in educational awards for the top performing athletes in elementary and middle school, high school, college and open categories.
“This season, scholarship awards will be doubled in value,” said meet director Cheryl Toussaint. “Competitors can earn one of more than 100 educational scholarships awarded by Colgate-Palmolive Company, in $2,000, $1,000, and $500 denominations based on order of finish in the series,” she said.
Queens College in Flushing will host the series’ outdoor preliminaries on April 16 and 23, and its semi-finals on April 30. The finals of the Colgate Women’s Games will be held on May 7 at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island.
Required digital entry forms are now available for the female runners, high jumpers, and shot putters from New York City’s five boroughs, their suburbs, and municipalities of all sizes throughout the northeastern United States. Digital entry forms can be found online at bit.ly/colgate_digital_entry_form
After digital entry forms are completed online, the season continues with on-site registration events on March 25 and April 1 at Queens College, where athletes pick up their identifying bib number, Colgate Women’s Games competitor’s shirt, and a complimentary bag of Colgate-Palmolive health and hygiene products.
Toussaint also welcomed the ShopRite supermarket chain as a supporter of the longtime athletic and educational series. ShopRite will host a registration day and special event promoting the Colgate Games at its Elizabeth, N.J., store, 865 West Grand St., on April 12.
For more information on the Colgate Women’s Games, visit colgatewomensgames.com.
AUTHORS & THEIR WORKS
A half dozen authors from Grenada and Jamaica have joined forces to display their latest literary works in Brooklyn on March 26 at the Spring Book Fair, coming to the Coal Pot, 1466 St. John’s Place (Utica and Rochester Aves.), from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Meet the authors and see their works: VP Records co-founder Pat Chin (“Miss Pat: My Reggae Music Journey”); Everybody’s magazine founder and publisher Herman Hall (“Julien Fédon: Revolutionary, Patriot and Insurrectionist — The Untold Story of a Mulatto Leader”); community leader Claudette Joy Spence (“366 Days of Liberation”); writer and poet Anthony W. DeRiggs, (“We Kinda Talk”); Jah Jerry Inc. founder James Haynes (“Jah Jerry: Legacy of an Original Skatalites”); and Donovan Chin, (“Dirty John Crow Man, “Worthless Dirty Girl.”)
There will be prizes, refreshments and music. Call (718) 930-0230 for information.
IT’S GRENADA AGAINST THE USA
Grenada’s national soccer team is ready for a home match against the U.S. squad on Friday at the island nation’s Kirani James Athletics Stadium.
In their last encounter in 2004, the Americans edged out Grenada’s “Spice Boyz” team 3-2. The island nation is investing in sports tourism — with the Grenada Invitational track and field meet coming in June, and the Grenada Rugby World 7′s tournament due in December. Visit puregrenada.com for more information.
