Spencer Third In Split, Americas Second

Representing the Americas - just the second St Lucian ever to do so at such a meet - Levern spencer finished third in women's High Jump at the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup in Split, Croatia over the weekend. The Americas placed second, 9.5 points behind Europe, but ahead of Asia-Pacific and Africa. The Continental Cup replaces the former World Cup, n which St Lucia's Dominic Johnson had previously represented the Americas in men's Pole Vault.

Split belong to hometown girl, World Champion Blanka Vlasic, who led Europe with a Championship-Record win in High Jump. Vlasic equalled her season-best leap of 2.05m before attempting to clear 2.10m, a centimetre higher than the 23-year-old world mark of Bulgaria's Stefka Kostadionva. But her three attempts all fell short before the slender Croatian collapsed into the arms of her father Josko.

Spencer, the second-leading high jumper in the Americas this season, went clear first time at 1.83m, but needed two tries to clear 1.88, the same results as Nadiya Dusanova, the Uzbekhisani who tied Spencer for third. Sweden's Emma Green, with a 1.95m clearance, was second for Europe.

Though their distance runners stepped up to contribute valuable points, and their sprinters dominated as expected, the Americas team had a rough time of it in the field. They won just two events, men's Long Jump through Dwight Phillips and men's Shot Put through Christian Cantwell, both of the USA. Sub-standard performances in women's Javelin Throw and women's Long Jump were especially costly.

For Spencer, her last meet of 2010 is the Commonwealth Games, 6-12 October in Delhi, India. She is favoured to win gold, but after her longest-ever season, during the course of which she won the Finnish Jackpot Series, took CAC Games gold and established a new CARICOM record for her event whilst competing on three continents, she will need to dig deep to hold off her main challengers from Canada and Jamaica.

She can take heart , however, from having picked up her first global medal of any kind since her days in the under-20 ranks. Although she has not gone as high as 1.90 since July, she will surely be motivated too by her inability to get a medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, when she placed fifth. That event was won in 2006 with a height of 1.93m by Anika Smith of South Africa.