One for coaches
BOYS’ KINGS: Harrison College’s Dario Stoute accepting the boys’ shield from Minister of Sports Stephen Lashley.
by SHERRYLYN A. TOPPIN
THE CHAMPIONS of the 2010 Powerade Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletic Championships gave two beloved physical education (PE) teachers the best farewell gift by successfully defending their titles.
Springer Memorial, winners for the eighth straight year and 12 of the last 13, dedicated the victory to Andrea Nichols, the former head of the PE Department, while Harrison College will also be losing Adrian Thorne, the often invisible driving force behind the scenes.
Nichols recently became the acting Physical Education officer in the Ministry of Education, while Thorne will be moving on to the Barbados Defence Force.
For the sixth time in the past eight years, Springer Memorial and Harrison College have emerged queens and kings of the prestigious championships.
Springer Memorial went on to create history with an unprecedented 423.5 points - the first time the 400 barrier has been broken in the meet’s 25 years. Their previous highest tally was 376.5 in 2006.
Queen’s College were second with 231.5, up from fifth, followed by The St Michael School (191), Coleridge and Parry (151) and The Lodge School (143.5).
Of note were Garrison Secondary who jumped from 13th with 46.5 points to 126.5.
History has a way of repeating itself, and for the second year in a row, it was the Harrison College Under-15 Boys’ 4×100 metres relay team that secured the title. Led by anchor Mario Burke, they finished second behind Combermere to send the anxiously waiting throng on the far side into rapture.
A total of 237.33 points gave Harrison College the title, with Queen’s College second again on 228. St Leonard’s put in an excellent performance to finish third with 202, followed by Ellerslie and Alleyne School with 188 and 146.6, respectively.
“We recognised yesterday [Tuesday] that even though we had one more day to go, we had already won the sports because when we calculated, there was no one who could catch us.
“When we came here today [yesterday], we asked ‘What is our goal?’ And we said, ‘let us go for 400′. We looked at the events for today [yesterday] and in just about all of them we had athletes going forward,” said Sandra Jones, the new head of department.
Special
“All of them are all special. This one is dedicated to Miss Nichols. She is not here, but she started the process this term.
“We have lost her, but not completely, because she is here in spirit, sometimes physically. She is always here for advice and support in any way we want, so we want to dedicate this one to her.”
Despite the points changing throughout the day, Thorne was confident throughout.
“Kolij came out victorious, but I think we must give appreciation to the other teams which made the sports what they were - and they are Queen’s College, who did very well, and St Leonard’s who look like they have arrived at the pinnacle.
“It is just that we have the expertise. We know how to win, we always know how to win, how to do it,” Thorne added.
He thanked all of the club coaches, teachers, parents and past and present students who helped ensure the victory.
He also lauded the “courageous” Burke and Todd Lavine who were both in pain, but pulled through.
Springer Memorial’s Tristan Evelyn and Mara Weekes of The Lodge School shared the victrix ludorum title with the maximum 40 points. Evelyn won the 100m, 200m in a record time, 400 metres and long jump, while Weekes was victorious in the long jump, triple jump, 200 and 400 metres.
Ramarco Thompson of Combermere was the victor ludorum. His 40 points came from wins in the high jump, 80m hurdles, and
200 and 400 metres. (Nation News)