SURE AND STEADY, ST CYPRIAN’S just had to succeed.
It was history in the making for the boys of Brittons Hill yesterday when they won their first ever zonal team title at the Pinehill National Primary Schools’ Athletic Championships while St Alban’s made a return to glory in the girls division of the Andrea Blackett Zone at the National Stadium.
Led by an extremely strong Under-9 squad featuring division champ Romario Godding and Nathan Brathwaite, St Cyprian’s Boys’ wrapped up the momentous occasion with victories in the Under-9 and Under-11’s 4×100 relays to finish with 149.5 points – becoming the only private school zonal winner in the event’s history.
“It feels really great because the boys put in the work and it finally paid off,” said games teacher Ramon Greaves.
“To be honest, I knew we would’ve been competitive but to win is a real dream come true. This just goes to show the whole motto of the school: Sure and steady, must succeed.”
Ellerton were a further 14 points adrift while Good Shepherd (117.83) and defending four-time champs Selah (105.5) finished third and fourth respectively.
The margin wasn’t nearly as close in the girls’ table, though, with former three-time queens St Alban’s – who last won in 2010 – racking up 192 points to beat last year’s winners Good Shepherd (165) by almost 30 points. Selah were third on 135 points and Meridian Windows Ignatius Byer (135) had a solid showing for fourth.
It still didn’t come close to matching St Cyprian’s historic performance, which saw the newly-crowned champions account for two of the nine records to fall on the day, including an impressive one minute, 4.38-second clocking in the Under-9s 4×100.
This was long after Jordyn Adams set a new mark of 8.98 seconds in the Under-7s 50-metre dash and Jaden Webster won the Under-9 cricket ball throw with a distance of 34.37 metres.
But Godding was the one who truly got things rolling following a win in the Under-9 Boys’ 100 metres (15.96) along with a second-place finish in the subsequent 150.
St Alban’s also had a division winner of their own to lean on in Amara Harewood, who took the Under-7s 50 (9.41) and placed second in the standing broad jump on the way to a category-best 18 points.
They didn’t account for any other divisions though, but got good all-round and individual efforts from Ashley Edwards, Liana Leacock and Rayanna Mascoll.
But the day’s great showing was that of Western Union Welches’ Lagina Colucci – the victrix ludorum who just refused to lose any Under-13 event she competed in.
Such was her performance that Colucci smashed Sasha Mayers’ previous meet record of 28.78 in the 200 metres with a new mark of 28.78. This was after she had already secured victory in the 100 (14.13) and long jump (3.92 metres).
Victor ludorum Daquan Spencer also threatened to sweep his three events, as the St Luke’s Brighton Under-13 king won the 100 (14.28) and 400 (1:06.98) before eventually losing out on the 200 (29.32) to Good Shepherd’s Diallo Thompson (29.04).
Good Shepherd had more to celebrate when their senior girls accounted for new marks in both the Under-13s 4×100 relay (58.99) and 800 sprint medley (2:09.45) that sandwiched St Lawrence’s record-setting run in the Under-13 Boys’ 4×100 relay (57.26).
It was one of two records on the day for St Lawrence Primary, who also had the honour of replacing the Under-9 Girls’ long jump through the efforts of Kaleisha Freeman (2.82).
Prior to helping her teams break those earlier relay records, Aleisha Doyle scored an individual one of her own while running 1:06.50 in the Under-13s 400 metres. Ellerton’s Adrial Sealy-Tull, the Under-7 Boys’ champ, accounted for the day’s other mark when he recorded 1.61 metres in the standing broad jump.