TORTOLA - The BVI Athletics Association will honor its athletes for their achievements during the 2009 season when it hosts an awards recognition gala on Jan. 2 at Brisani's at Prospect Reef.

The event is slated to begin at 6 p.m. and the guest speaker will be Neville "Teddy" McCook, IAAF area representative and NACAC president. Individual tickets, which cost $50, goes on sale shortly. The cost for couples' tickets is $85.

More than 50 awards will be handed out in seven categories during the gala - including road racing - to include the Blenheim Trust 5K Spring Series and the Ceres Juices 10K Series. Those awards are presented by The Blenheim Trust

The BVI Athletics Association will hand out awards from the Under-11 age group to Open in track events, field events and combined events. Awards will also be presented to the most improved male and female athletes. Recognition will also be given in the cross country segments - to the top individual and service club team in the recently concluded HLSCC/Highland Spring Race Series.

Additionally, the BVI Athletics Association's partner, Sol, will present the National Record Breakers Awards. In all, a combined 17 records were broken upon during the season in the Junior Girls 200 Meters, 400 and 800 meters, Long Jump, Triple Jump and 1,600 Meter Relay.

Sol will also present the Athlete of the Year awards, in Youth, Junior and Senior Divisions.

The association will meet with coaches, athletes and their parents on Dec. 4, in Lecture Room 2 of Elmore Stoutt High School.

Triple Jack smashes his Round Tortola course record

Triple Jack smashed its course record by more than 20 minutes and beat its nearest pursuer Jurakan by 42 minutes during the 40th annual Peg Legs Round Tortola Race, which started and ended at Nanny Cay.

The trimaran, which came to the BVI in 1997, circumnavigated Tortola in 3 hours, 33 minutes and 27 seconds to erase the 3:55 time from 2002.

"We had a south-southeast breeze, which is pretty rare and it was only 12-15 knots," said Richard Wooldridge. "What it meant was that most of the racing boats had to do a one tack to Beef Island, then a bare away around Scrub, a gybe off the back of Camanoe and Guana Island. Then it was a reach all the way down the back side of Tortola, a couple tacks and it was back to Nanny Cay. It was really fast because there was not much upwind and downwind."

Peter Haycraft's Pipe Dream was second in the Racing class, 14 minutes behind Triple Jack on corrected time and last year's winner, Dave West's Jurakan, placed third, missing second place by one second. Guy Eldridge's Luxury Girl, after a seemingly excellent start, lost a whopping 22 minutes.

Tom Mullen, sailing Shamrock V for the last time, won the Cruising class, while Adrian Sinton's Rascal was second and Dr. Robin Tattersall's classic Diva, was third.

BVI volleyball group adds four new members

Sabina Mason retained her post as president of the BVI Amateur Volleyball Association as four new members were added to the board during Tuesday night's elections.

Roy Barry and Melissa Amey were re-elected to their posts of vice president and secretary, respectively. Steven Payne is the new assistant secretary; Willis Potter takes up the post of treasurer; and fellow newcomer Orren Hodge is Potter's assistant.

Cleave Farrington retained his post as public relations officer and Dwayne "Para" Rubaine and Canice Marquis are the player representatives.

Cycling federation vote slated for next month

Nominations for all positions on the executive board must reach outgoing BVI Cycling Federation president David Thomas by today.

The upcoming elections are scheduled for Dec 4. The meeting and brief awards ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. at the Moorings' conference room. Thomas announced at the beginning of the season that he's stepping down from the helm.

Meanwhile, the BVI Softball Association will hold its elections on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports. Following the elections, the association will host its second awards dinner on Dec. 5 at Moorings Mariner Inn. Tickets cost $50 per person. During the event, the association will honor Elroy "Ellie" Henley, Wilford "Willow" Stoutt , Dennis Rhymer, Grethel Stoutt, Louis Smith, Rhennie "Panchie" Julius, Kermet "Webb" Frett and Nolan "Dickie" Davies.

Annual BVI Half Marathon set for this weekend

A $500 prize is on the line for anyone who breaks St. John resident Jeremy Zuber's course record of 1 hour, 17 minutes and 38 seconds during Saturday's fourth annual BVI Half Marathon, which starts and ends at the Tortola Sports Club in Pasea.

Registration must be completed between 6-7 p.m. today at the Tortola Sports Club to receive their registration number and relevant race information. No registration will be accepted on race day. The registration fee is $25.

The race, starting at the Tortola Sports Club, will take runners on a south coast tour to Delta Gas Station in Pockwood Pond and return. Breakfast and an award ceremony will follow immediately after the event.

- Dean Greenaway is a Daily News Correspondent based on Tortola.