Thursday, March 28, 2024

Springer, QC again

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AFTER A YEAR’S break, nothing has changed since 2012.
Queen’s College and Springer Memorial still reign supreme as kings and queens of the PowerAde Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletics Championship (BSSAC).
Queen’s College, with their Under-13 Boys’ climaxing a strong performance with a 4×100-metre victory, came up big when it mattered most with a Senior Boys’ 800 metres triumph by Tre Hinds and an Under-15 Boys’ 400 victory by Antoni Hoyte-Small at the National Stadium, yesterday.
The Husbands, St James-based school finished on 313 points to comfortably hold off second-place The Lester Vaughan, who ended on 278 points.  The Lodge School (237) were third and The St Michael School (175) fourth.
Springer Memorial’s 15th BSSAC?Girls title was never in doubt, with their final tally of 348 points, exactly 100 more than second-placed St Michael (278). Harrison College (170.5) were third and Christ Church Foundation (160) fourth.
It was double delight for Springer as their wonder girl Tristan Evelyn shared the Victrix Ludorum title on 40 points with Alexandra’s Shonita Brome, after they won all four of their events.
Evelyn sped home in a new record of 24.13 seconds in the 200 metres, looking over at the clock as she crossed the line to better her semi-final time of 24.35 while shattering Mara Weekes’ 2007 time of 24.50 seconds.
It was one of five records broken on the day as crowd favourite Rivaldo Leacock in the Under-17 Boys’ 400-metre hurdles; Brome in the Under-15 Girls’ 400 metres and Deighton Griffith’s Andre Callender, with a record leap of 6.39 metres in the Under-15 Boys long jump, all established new marks as well as Christ Church Foundation’s Jaliyah Denny.
Brome won her fourth event with a record-breaking 57.41 seconds in the 400 metres, erasing Tiana Bowen’s 57.62 mark.
Victor Ludorum Leacock was the star attraction of the day. He had spectators jumping and waving as he amazingly took just 51.38 seconds to obliterate Tramaine Maloney’s 2010 mark of 53.29 seconds.
Such was his dominance that when he finished, the others were now clearing the final set of hurdles, some 30 metres behind as evidenced by second-place Rico Hurley’s 56.55 second time.
Denny set a new record of 12.70 seconds in the Under-13 Girls’ 100 metres when she forced 200 metres winner Leilani Haddock (12.96) into second place.
Leacock returned to take the 800 metres in the same age group in 2:00.08 minutes from Coleridge and Parry’s Jonathan Jones.
Lester Vaughan also gained a one-two in the Under-20 Boys’ 400-metre hurdles, courtesy Michael Nicholls (52.33) and Stephen Griffith (52.37) but Queen’s College already had an unassailable 40-point lead going into the relays.
Justin Robinson, Ajani Haddock, Daquan Alleyne and Samuel Alkins put the icing on the cake by comprehensively winning the Under-13 relay in 52.02 seconds.
Earlier, Alkins had boosted Queen’s College’s tally by winning the Under-13 Boys’ 400 metres (61.83) while Antoni Hoyte-Small handed the Lodge’s Tramaine Smith his first defeat at BSSAC by running a personal best 51.20 seconds in their quarter-mile showdown.
Ajani Haddock also powered Queen’s College to the Under-13 boys’ 100 metres in 12.69 seconds, just one hundredth of a second faster than Denny.
Hinds also earned Queen’s College ten crucial points by winning the senior Boys’ 800 metres in 1:55.62 minutes, holding off Grantley Adams’ Romario Marshall (1:55.92), who qualified for next month’s CARIFTA Games, after Dario Grandison had set a torrid pace.
Deighton Griffith’s Kentoine Browne completed the Under-17 Boys’ sprint double by capturing the 200 metres in a race which hurt Lester Vaughan as Kevin Briggs false-started.
The day had started with a thrilling finish in the Junior Girls’ 1500 metres as The Lodge’s Ashley Weekes (5:22.87 minutes) won a cliff-hanger from Springer’s Drew-Ann Clarke (5:22.90) where the photo-finish cameras had to determine the winner.
There wasn’t the same drama in the boys’ race with Grantley Adams’ Roneldo Rock (4:41.36) pulling away from Harrison College’s Nathan Thornhill (4:53.14) in the last 150 metres for his second victory of the championships.
The Lodge’s Akayla Morris (28.92) won the Under-15 girls’ 200-metres hurdles but had to settle for silver in the 100 metres with a time of 12.54 seconds as Combermere’s Ashley Lowe (12.27) completed the sprint double.
Despite his 400-metre loss to Hoyte-Small, Smith was a double winner yesterday, triumphing in the Under-15 boys’ 300-metre in 39.16 and the 100 metres in 11.33 seconds.    
In the girls’ 800 metres, St George’s Anya Williams staved off a determined challenge from Graydon Sealy’s Akilah Blackman, who ill-advisedly tried to pass her on the inside, to win the Under-17 race in 2:24.74 minutes while Akelia Knight (2:17.72 minutes) took the senior girls’ 800 metres.
Parkinson’s Dedra Deane-Mason, fresh from Thursday’s 800 triumph, also won the Under-13 Girls’ 400 metres in 61.06 seconds, much faster than the boys.
In the distance hurdles, St Michael’s Jaria Hoyte won the Under-17 Girls’ 300-metre race in 44.33 seconds while CP’s Sada Williams had just enough to run back at Harrison College’s Aisha Bowen (64.93) and win the Under-20 girls’ 400 metres hurdles in 64.88 seconds.
Already a CARIFTA Games and CAC qualifier, Williams returned to win the 200 metres with a blistering run of 23.61 seconds, going faster than Evelyn to also qualify for World Juniors. St Michael’s Levi Cadogan won the senior Boys’ 200 metres in 20.97 seconds.
The Lodge School’s quartet of Darian Alleyne, Wade Garner, Warren Forde and Akeem McCollin on anchor, got bragging rights by winning the meet’s final event, the Boys’ 4×400-metre relay in 3:19.62 minutes.
However, St Michael girls’ joy was short-lived as after commandingly crossing the line first in their 4×400-metre relay, nearly 30 metres ahead, they were disqualified for cutting in too early on the second leg and Combermere were awarded the gold medals.
Other 4×100-metre winners were Foundation’s Under-13 girls’ and The St Michael Under-15 Boys.

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