Errol Miller (left), LIME's regional vice-president, corporate communications, talks with Ann-Marie Duffus (centre) of Edwin Allen High and Clive Pullen of Kingston College, at a Boys and Girls' Championships awards function, hosted by his company at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel last Wednesday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
After being declared overall Champion Boy and Girl, Kingston College's (KC) Clive Pullen and Ann-Marie Duffus of Edwin Allen High credited hard work for their success at this year's ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Championships, which ended at the National Stadium on Saturday, April 4.
They were the toast of an awards function, held by one of the event's sponsors, telecommunication giant LIME, at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel last Wednesday.
Both athletes received a desktop computer and $80,000, which will go towards tuition fees and offsetting expenses for the Penn Relays later this month.
Pullen, who competed in the boys' Class Three category, scored 25 points at the meet. He won the high and long jump events and finished second in the 100m hurdles.
His performance also helped propel KC to an exciting 1-1/2 points victory over arch-rivals Calabar.
Give thanks to God
"I feel great about this award but I must also give thanks to God for giving me this experience," said Pullen.
"I feel good about my performance at Champs because as the defending champion, I knew that it was always going to be difficult to defend my title. But I was encouraged a lot by my coaches and teammates," he said.
Duffus, competing in Class One, tallied 27 points. She won both the long jump and the heptathlon and finished third in the javelin.
"I feel very proud of myself because I have worked really hard throughout the season. I think that I deserve this award," said the soft-spoken Duffus.
"However, I think that I could have done a lot better but I was carrying an injury from December and this hampered my performance in a big way," she added.
The Wolmer's pair of Julian Forte and Ramone Bailey, with 22 and 21 points, respectively, captured the Class Two and Class One High Performance Awards and $40,000 each.
Other athletes were rewarded for winning LIME-sponsored races. They are Calabar High's Ramone McKenzie, for the Class One 200m; Kingston College's Keiron Stewart, for winning the 400m hurdles open; The Queen's School's Carrie Russell, who won the Class One 100m; and Edwin Allen's Nikita Tracey, who won the 400m hurdles. Each collected $30,000.
St George's College and Frome Technical each received $100,000 for being the most improved schools in the respective boys' and girls' categories.