Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport Editor

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil:

ALIA ATKINSON broke her own national record in the heats of the women’s 200 metres breaststroke at the XV Pan American Games yesterday.

Atkinson, who set new marks in the 100 metres butterfly earlier this week, clocked two minutes, 37.61 seconds to smash the 2:38.31 she set at last year’s Central American and Caribbean Games.

The 18-year-old placed third in the first of three heats to advance to today’s semi-finals with the sixth fastest time overall. The fastest qualifier is American Keri Hehn with 2:26.72.

Natasha Moodie also advanced today’s semi-finals of the women’s 100m freestyle. Moodie took fifth spot in heat one with 59.15 seconds and is 15th fastest behind leader, American Lauren Thies, with 56.53.

Boyz on hunt

Jamaica’s Young Reggae Boyz will be seeking to make it three from three today in the football competition when they face Haiti in their final preliminary-round match in Group C.

The Wendell Downswell-coached Under-20 team followed up their narrow 1-0 victory over Colombia with an emphatic 2-0 win over Argentina on Wednesday. They need a point to cement their place in next Tuesday’s semi-finals but could still advance even with a loss.

The Jamaicans lead the group with six points, three more than Colombia. The Colombians would need to defeat Argentina by a wide margin in their final match and hope that Jamaica suffer a big loss to top the group ahead of the Boyz.

The winners of each of the three groups and the best second place advance to the semi-finals.

The Young Boyz will face a stiffer test against Haiti than they did against Argentina. Reports from the Argentinian camp are that the team in Rio de Janeiro is made up of the country’s Under-17 reserves.

The ‘real’ Under-17 team, they say, is still in their country preparing for the Under-17 World Cup later this year. The Haitians have one point from two games. They were clipped 1-0 by Colombia and drew 1-1 with Argentina.

Boxers Nicholas Walters and Ricardo Smith got tough first-round opponents when the draw for boxing was made yesterday.

With entries fairly low, Smith drew a bye in the round of 16, but then his luck ran out and he is down to face Cuba’s Erislandy Lara in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

Featherweight Nicholas Walters could also face a Cuban in his first bout. He drew a round of 16 bye and will fight either Cuba’s Idel Torriente or Argentina’s Jesus Cuellar in the quarter-finals. The Cubans have been the strongest boxing nation in the world for more than 20 years and have always dominated at the Pan American Games.