Although they lost the boys' title, Alphonza King of Charles F. Broome was smiling broadly at the end of the day. The girls won their first title with 355 points and the boys were second with 320.5 points.
"I knew the girls were much stronger than the boys this year and they did exceptionally well. The boys didn't disappoint. They worked extremely hard. They put in all of the work and you are seeing the results today," King said.
His team benefitedby yeoman service from Under-13 champion Talasiah Balgobin, and Allana Ince, among others, in the Under-11 division.
"Those were the two dominant ones. This was Talasiah's last year at Charles F. Broome and we wanted to send her off in grand style and we were able to do that."
A smiling, King said they were teaming up with Springer Memorial to keep the two titles in Government Hill.
Ken Springer of Wilkie Cumberbatch was also a happy man at the end of the day. His boys won their first title, while the girls jumped from 13th on 89 points to third with 196.
"It is a wonderful feeling. We have been coming second to Charles F. Broome for quite a while now, so to have this victory, this championship under our belt is very good for us," he said.
"There was a lot more teamwork this year. We didn't depend on one person. We had some excellent performances from Mario Burke and Ajani Alleyne, but there were some other guys who really chipped in, Keon Harding and some others. Those guys really came together and worked hard this year."
He also thanked Wendy Barrow-Smith of BC Trac for the work she does with a lot of his athletes.
Both physical education teachers said the victory celebration would be held at a later date. (SAT)