THERE?must be something special in the drinking water in St George that produced champions, record-breakers and the victor ludorum and joint victrix ludorum at the just-concluded Barbados Secondary Schools Athletic Championships (BSSAC).
One village, Todds, has two titans in Tristan Evelyn and Tramaine Smith.
Evelyn is one of the fastest schoolgirls in this country and the spearhead of the Springer Memorial juggernaut that marched to another girls title.
The 16-year-old did the sprint double in the Under-17 division and sent records tumbling in both the 100 metres and 200 metres.
Smith, who lives just a few houses away from Evelyn, was similarly impressive in the Under-15 Boys’ division, winning the 100, 200, 300 metres hurdles and copping second place in the 400 metres.
Smith, a student of the Lodge School, who romped to third place in the boys standings, wrote his name in the record books in the 200 metres.
Nearby Groves can also claim two outstanding champions – Carifta gold medallist Rivaldo Leacock (Groves Cottage) of Lester Vaughan, a class act in the 400 metres hurdles and the only under-17 boy in this country to ever run under 52 seconds in the event, and Ashley Lowe of Combermere (Groves Terrace), the princess of speed among the Under-15 girls.
“I didn’t know there was such a strong St George connection,” said a delighted Evelyn, whose birthday was last month. “I am just happy about it. The country has always produced good athletes, I am just glad so many of them are from St George.”
Leacock, who is still only 15 and is heavily favoured to strike gold at next month’s Carifta Games in Martinique, told SUN?SPORT that his performances and that of the others could only boost the profile of the parish.
One young woman, who requested anonymity, could not contain her delight when she was told that so many top athletes were from her home parish.
“St George is a great parish. I really didn’t know that Rivaldo was one of us. He is a big star. It is great to know that the cream of the top athletes all live in St George. I am really proud. I don’t know if there is something different in the water of the St George springs, but I am loving our success,” she said.
Smith, like Leacock, is shy and lets his feet do the talking, but he expressed pride in being from the central parish.
“It is great that all of us are from St George. I didn’t know that Ashley Lowe is from St George and it is nice to know that the parish has produced so many good runners. I am happy to be a St George man,” he said.
It does not end there. Hakeem Clarke, the 6-foot 3-inch Lodge student, the only schoolboy at BSSAC to sail over the bar at two metres in the high jump for under-20 boys, is from Workmans.
