Apparently not much has changed in schools’ distance running.
The queens of the track are still very much at the top of the pecking order in cross country too, as Springer Memorial had two individual champions on the way to a pair of team titles during yesterday’s cross country championships at the Blenheim ground.
On a day where perennial powers Harrison College, Queen’s College, Combermere, St Michael, Ellerslie and St Leonard’s proved to be no-shows, the Government Hill lasses sure made their presence felt following dominant runs by Drew Ann Clarke and Jade Searles.
This was after Coleridge & Parry threatened to steal the show with a superb team performance in the first form girls’ event that saw the Ashton Hall squad benefit from third, sixth, seventh, 11th and 18th place finishes.
But Springer went one better in the ensuing three-lap Under-15 race, where Clarke held off St George’s hard-charging Jeal Williams at the line to win in a time of seven minutes and two seconds while three other teammates in the top ten.
Williams was second in 7:04 and Alleyne’s Ka-Neil Gale (7:24) finished third before Rosette Hoyte (7:24), Cayla Turney (8:01) and Shaquanna Scott (8:07) crossed the line in third, eighth and ninth for Springer.
And they weren’t even as good as their senior counterparts, who also had four girls in the top ten after Searles coasted to an easy wire-to-wire victory in 11:10 during the four-lap equivalent.
Teammate Tanisha Stanford (11:51) came second and St George’s Rashona Dawson (12:27) was third before Neviandra Greenidge, Kylia Smith and Tricia Phillips gave the champs sixth-, ninth- and 11th-place finishes respectively.
Coleridge & Parry had another good showing in the senior boys’ four-lap race too, with fourth-placed Darian Scantlebury (14:04) leading home a quintet of top finishers including Stefan Watson (sixth), Kamal Clarke (ninth), Torrell Jemmott (tenth) and Carlos Cyrus (11th).
However, none could keep place with pre-race favourite Pius Emilien (12:30), who switched allegiances from Alleyne to Foundation but was still his dominant self while leading from the starter’s gun.
At one point only mother Martha Desrivieres seemed capable of keeping up with her ward as Emilien’s exuberant parent ran alongside him over the final 30 metres of each lap.
Alleyne’s Terrell McCollin (13:19) crossed the line second and David Yearwood (13:36) of Lodge was third.
Earlier, talented swimmer Ashley Weekes gave Lodge reason to cheer by leading the first form girls’ two-lap event from start to finish before winning in a time of 6:23. Deighton Griffith’s Leah Forde (7:04) edged Shanice Broome (7:08) of Coleridge and Parry for second before CP dominated the rest of placings.
Deighton Griffith then moved one spot higher when Dwayne Cadogan won the first form boys’ equivalent in six minutes flat to beat out St George’s Zavier Ward (6:03) and Kemar Sherman (6:10) of Foundation.
Rio Williams rounded out the day’s winners by taking the Under-15 boys’ three-lap race in 9:40 for Foundation. St George’s Luke Hinkson (9:56) eventually faded down the stretch and had to settle for second while Damario Maxwell (10:19) of Deighton Griffith was third.
Fifth-placed Shem Boyce, Mateo Meneul (sixth), Daviere Rollins (eighth) and Mario Graham (12th) appeared to have given Alleyne the unofficial team title in that race.
