Puerto Rico picks up 8 more medals at CAC Games

Team Puerto Rico bowlers won silver and bronze medals in the men’s trios event at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo. (COPUR)

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico added two gold, three silver and two bronze medals to its tally on Wednesday and secured a spot in the men’s volleyball final at the 25th Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Santo Domingo 2026.

Swimming once again led the day’s action, contributing three medals. Kristen Romano won gold in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4 minutes, 44.87 seconds, setting a new CAC Games record by surpassing the 4:45.47 mark she had previously set at San Salvador 2023.

Additionally, Andrés Brooks took bronze in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 1:58.77, and Xavier Ruiz won another bronze in the 400-meter individual medley, clocking in at 4:21.69. With those results, Puerto Rico brought its total swimming medal count to six.

Bowling also contributed to the medal tally with a silver and a bronze in the men’s trios event. The team comprising David Márquez, Israel Hernández and Jean Pérez finished second with a score of 4,050 pins, while the trio of Edgar Burgos, Jorge Rodríguez and Cristian Azconca took bronze with 4,024 pins.

In men’s volleyball, Puerto Rico defeated Mexico 3-1 to advance to the tournament final with an undefeated record. Jair Santiago scored 11 points and Pelegrín Vargas added 10 to lead the Puerto Rican offense. Puerto Rico was slated to play Colombia for the gold medal on Thursday night.

The women’s softball team maintained its perfect run by defeating the Virgin Islands 10-9 in extra innings, improving to 4-0. Aleimalee López hit the game-winning single in the eighth inning to secure the victory for Team PUR, which was to face Mexico on Thursday for a spot in the final.

The women’s basketball team also finished the group stage undefeated, beating Costa Rica 86-46 and securing a spot in the semifinals with a 3-0 record.

In women’s handball, Puerto Rico opened the tournament with a 30-24 victory over Guatemala. Nathalys Ceballos scored seven goals, and Roxanaly Carrasquillo saved 16 of 28 shots to lead the team to victory.

The men’s and women’s beach volleyball pairs wrapped up the preliminary round with a 3-1 record and advanced directly to the quarterfinals. The women’s pair defeated Costa Rica, while the men’s pair lost to Nicaragua.

The women’s soccer team played to a 0-0 draw against Mexico in their debut, thanks to an outstanding performance by goalkeeper Cristina Roque.

Puerto Rico won one gold medal and two silver medals in surfing to conclude its campaign in the sport with a total of four medals (Max Torres earned a bronze in men’s SUP Surf on Tuesday).

Mariecarmen Rivera and Nimsay García competed in the first-ever SUP Surf final in the history of the CAC Games to feature an all-Puerto Rican lineup.

Rivera won the gold with a score of 8.40, while García finished in second place with 4.67 points to take the silver. In the women’s longboard event, Jazmine Dean added another silver medal, finishing the final with a score of 11.50.

In other individual events, Augusta Campos-Martyn and Ana Bermúdez Latorre advanced to the women’s trap final, while Patrick Martínez Marsigne concluded his run in the men’s trap competition.

In tennis, the men’s team defeated Barbados 2-0 in the Nations Cup and advanced to the semifinals with wins from Yannik Álvarez and Marko Mesorovik. The women’s team was eliminated by Colombia.

The men’s baseball team beat Panama 7-3 in a warm-up game ahead of its debut on Friday against the Dominican Republic.