BAYLEY’S PRIMARY in the girls and Hilda Skeene in the boys took the early lead after one event was completed during yesterday’s Pine Hill Dairy National Primary Schools’ Athletics Championships semi-finals at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex.
Bayley’s Primary are out front thanks to Charity Cumberbatch, who won the Open Girls’ High Jump with 1.32 metres. Amariah Cumberbatch, of St Giles, was second with 1.29 metres while Saskia Ward, of St Paul’s, was third with the same height.
Hilda Skeene’s Kadari Webster predictably won the Open Boys’ High Jump to give his school ten points. Webster won with 1.40 metres while Bayley’s Josh Newton was second with 1.37 metres. Kemar Butler, of Bay Primary, was third with 1.34 metres.
With the finals still to be contested next week, Bayley’s lead the girls with ten points while St Paul’s are second with 8.50 points. St Giles are third with eight points.
Hilda Skeene lead the boys with ten points while Bay Primary are second with nine points and Bayley’s third with eight points.
Tiara Stewart, of Roland Edwards, was once again the class act in the Under-13 Girls’ Long Jump. Stewart broke her own record of 4.82 metres to be the top qualifier with 4.96 seconds. Had Stewart competed at the National Junior Championships on Sunday, she would have finished third in the Under-18 Girls’ Long Jump.
The 11-year-old phenom had set the previous record just last week at the quarter-finals.
Record broken
Daniel Duncan, of Bayley’s Primary, obliterated the eight-year-old record in the Under-11 Boys’ long jump. Duncan was the top qualifier in this event after he recorded a massive 4.93 metres. The previous record was 4.40 metres set in 2008 by Ajani Alleyne.
It was a close fight to the finish in heat one of the Under-13 Boys’ 200 metres between Amir Gustave, of Bay Primary, and St Stephen’s Achilles Browne. The pair was neck and neck coming down the home stretch and it took a photo finish result to separate them. In the end it was Gustave who was just narrowly ahead in 27.17 seconds while Browne was second in 27.18 seconds.
But none of them came close to the 27.03 seconds set by St Stephen’s Chaz Searles, who won the second heat. Searles, running out of lane four, quickly picked up the stagger and was out front even before he hit the 100-metre stretch. What’s even more remarkable about his performance is that he clearly wasn’t even pushing himself that hard.
There was more excitement in the first heat of the Under-11 Girls’ 200 metres between Kalescia Downes, of Arthur Smith, and Samiya Dell, of Sharon Primary. Downes tried to keep pace with the lithe Dell but she began to flag about five metres from the finish line. Dell finished strong in the day’s fastest time of 29.33 seconds while Downes clocked 29.43 seconds.
The impressive Skye Spencer-Layne, of West Terrace, won the second heat in the day’s third fastest time of 29.68 seconds.
