SOME NEW and exciting athletic talent emerged yesterday when The St Michael School staged its annual Inter-House Athletics Championships at the National Stadium.

Leading the way was Boadicea's Rommel Waithe who was named the
Most Outstanding Male Athlete. Competing in the Under-17 Division, Waithe set tongues wagging when he beat Everton Greenidge in both the 100 and 200 metres. He clocked 10.86 seconds (hand-timed) in the 100 and 22.34 in the half-lap to Greenidge's 11.09 and 22.45 respectively.

They were virtually neck and neck coming off the turn in the 200 metres, when Waithe accelerated over the last 80 metres to blow past Greenidge, who had won the 400 metres in 51.84 seconds.

Another emerging face was George Farrell of Victoria House. The six-foot basketballer came over from Louis Lynch Secondary and immediately set a new mark of 1.85 metres in the Under-20 Boys' High Jump, raising it by two metres. His technique is almost non-existent, and it is amazing he could clear that height. With a good high jump coach, he could easily clear two metres and above.

Farrell was late for the 100, but the real fire came in the 200 metres. Housemate Stefan Goodridge came out of the turn in his usual aggressive manner, when Farrell pulled up next to him, looked him in the face and then stepped towards the finish line.

To his credit, Goodridge, the senior victor ludorum, never broke stride and ran through the line while the children in the Jim Wedderburn Stand screamed and ran up and down.

Farrell will be an asset to the team at inter-school sports, and both the Under-17 and Under-20 Boys' relay teams should be very competitive, along with the Under-15 Girls.

The most outstanding female athlete and junior victrix ludorum was Erica Griffith of Anne House.

She set a new record of 1:02.02 in the Under-15 girls' 400 metres; won
the 800 metres (2:49.63); 1 500 (5:52.75), 75-metre hurdles (13.05) and the 200 metres in 25.94 seconds, beating housemate Alicia Best (26.13). Best won the 100 metres in 12.79 seconds.

Wendal Davis of Anne House was the junior victor ludorum with 62 points. He won the 80-metre hurdles, high jump and the 400 metres in 58.94 seconds; was second in the 1 500, third in the 800 and also picked up points in the field events.

Tamisha Flatts of Anne was the senior victrix ludorum, dominating the Under-17 Division. She had wins in the 100, 200, 100-metre hurdles and triple jump; was second in the long jump and high jump, and gave some creditable performances in the throws.

With some of the best relay handovers, Anne took the relay trophy, and the junior boys lowered the record of 1:54.82 seconds in the sprint medley. Elizabeth (1:55.22) also went below the old mark of 1:55.64.

However, Anne had to settle for second place with 1 168 points behind Boadicea (1 199) who have won for two successive years after dethroning Anne in 2004. Third place went to Elizabeth with 958 points and Victoria brought up the rear with 934 at one of the most exciting championships this season.

Division champions:

Under-13 Girls: Tori Alleyne (Boadicea) 34 points.

Under-13 Boys: Zari Prescod (Boadicea) 51.

Under-15 Girls: Erica Griffith (Anne) 68.

Under-15 Boys: Wendal Davis (Anne) 62.

Under-17 Girls: Tamisha Flatts (Anne) 66.

Under-17 Boys: Romario Straker (Victoria) 36.

Under-20 Girls: Chynna Glasgow (Boadicea) 65.

Under-20 Boys: Stefan Goodridge (Victoria) 48.

Junior victrix ludorum: Erica Griffith.

Junior victor ludorum: Wendal Davis.

Senior victrix ludorum: Tamisha Flatts.

Senior victor ludorum: Stefan Goodridge.

Tug-of-war: Boadicea.

Relay champions: Anne.