Kingston College athletes celebrate their 31st victory after the 99th staging of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletic Championships at the National Stadium on Saturday. - photos by Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer
Holmwood Technical High School athletes celebrate their seventh straight victory in the girls' section after the 99th staging of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletic Championships at the National Stadium on Saturday.
Kingston College's (KC) head coach, Michael Russell, believes his boys lifted themselves to a performance beyond expectations, while Maurice Wilson, the main man in charge at Holmwood, said his task was not to allow his girls to get too complacent.
Holmwood, with 400.5 points, had a huge win over second-place Edwin Allen, which scored 203 points, Vere (194.5), Manchester (154.5) and St Jago and Wolmer's 127 each) to top the girls standings.
Wilson said it was a good Championships, but all that was required was to put pressure on the girls to keep them focused.
"They were getting complacent ... and I made it clear to them that the Championships is not over until the final day, you must have respect for your opponents," he said.
1.5 points win
On the boys' side, KC, with 223.5 points, won by a whisker over Calabar High, which ended on 222. JC (154), Wolmer's (144) and St Jago (122.5) rounded off the top five.
"We had a number of persons who were injured but as the saying (Latin version) Fortis Cadere Cedere Non Potest - the school's motto - the boys definitely lived by the motto today. The Brave May Fall But Never Yield," he said, repeating the school's motto in english.
KC entered the final day on 109 points to Calabar, who were third on 79, but as the finals unfolded, Calabar made big inroads into the lead.
It was down to the 4x400m relay where Calabar needed to finish ahead of KC by three places and it was on the cards until when Ramone McKenzie's injury took a toll with him leading on the final leg. He was relagated to third and KC closed strongly to finish fifth, which ensured the 1.5 points margin.
However, according to Russell, this may not have been the case if it weren't for "a number of disappointments".
"We lost out in the 400m Class One because we had good representations there, Rolando Berch and Akino Ming, they got injured, so we were not able to capitalise in that area," he added.
Outstanding performances
Bellefield High School's Kemoy Campbell reacts after smashing the Class-One boys' 1,500 metres record at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletic Championships at the National Stadium on Friday. Campbell won the 1,500m in 3:48.43, becoming the first schoolboy to run sub-3:50 at Champs. He returned on Saturday to smash the 5,000m record in 14:33.43.
But, he believes what made the difference for KC were some outstanding performances.
"Stefan Fennell in the hurdles (Class-Two 110m champion), Jonathan Reid in Class-One high jump (winner at 2.05m), an overall team effort, all round," he said. "You have some one point (finishes), Keiron Stewart, could not finish his 200m but jogged through and gave us a point ... Matthew Simms, who did the high jump and got half a point and at the end we won by 1.5 points."
He also praised the heptathlete, Hansle Parchment, who he said never competed before Champs this season "...and he came through and won the event.
"We won Champs from there," he said.
"This victory is the greatest one ever because it was down to the line."
Holmwood's coach Wilson also singled out two impressive performances.
He said Osheen Erskine and the girls' 4x400 quartet of Keno Heavens, Petra Fanty, Janieve Russell and Chris-Ann Gordon stood out.
Erskine won the 100m and 80m hurdles, but according to Wilson, the latter event was special.
"I think it was a splendid performance," he said.
"The 4x400m, we haven't won any all season and again I think this was a tremendous performance," he said.
Wilson said he told Anneisha McLaughlin, a member of the Holmwood team that has set the previous record, that "... we were going to break her record from 2003 and it did happen.
"So I think those two performances stood out in my mind," continued Wilson, who said they exceeded expectations as "we expected to win by 150 points".
Former Olympians Raymond Stewart (seated at left) and Beverly McDonald (right), along with coach Fitz Coleman (second right) and track official Carol Cuffley hold their awards in recognition of their contribution to the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletic Championships at the National Stadium on Friday. - photos by Ian Allen/Staff Photographer