Alleyne?House were given a wake-up call yesterday.
To be honest, the Cocks never stopped crowing at the National Stadium.
Cocks House (Red) dethroned two-time defending champions Alleyne (Blue) to capture their first sports title in 11 years when the Princess Margaret Secondary School held their Powerade-sponsored school sports at the Waterford track.
Having last won in 2001, Cocks amassed a whopping 923 points, more than 100 points ahead of second-placed Peebles (Purple) with 821. Greenhalgh (Green) finished third on 783, barely edging out Alleyne who finished last on 779 points.
On a day when 19 records fell, Under-20 athlete and victrix ludorum Shekera Squires was the star performer, setting new standards for every single event in which she competed.
The Alleyne House athlete broke all of her previous records, starting with the 100 metres, reducing her time of 13.70 seconds to 13.65 before doing the same in the 800m, timing 2:51.14.
She wasn’t done just yet, though, obliterating her 400 metres record by almost two seconds, clocking 65.47, before bringing her sensational performance to a close in the 200 in a time of 27.44.
Chad Small of Peebles also turned in some big performances, accounting for two records on his way to capturing the victor ludorum title.
Competing in the Under 20 division, Small smashed Shamel Maynard’s one-year-old record in the 800 metres (2:15.86), clocking 2:13.46, while also setting a new mark in the 400 with a time of 53.08.
In addition, he won the 200m (24.49) and 1 500m, placed second in the javelin, and fourth in the 100 and discus on his way to accumulating 58 points.
The Under-13 Boys’ division was hotly contested throughout the day, with Shaquann Jones (Cocks) clipping Greenhalgh’s Deveron Knight by the slightest of margins in what was easily the best race of the day.
Jones’ time of 29.59 condemned Knight (29.61) to second position, with Peebles’ Damarco Millington not far behind in 29.86.
There were also good performances from Kamilah Hinds of Green, who broke records in the Under-17 800m (2:58.65) and 400m (71.49) on her way to being crowned the divisional champion.
