A whopping 20 records came tumbling down at Christ Church Foundation School’s sports day and 2016 might just be the year when the Church Hill team reign supreme at the Barbados Secondary Schools Athletics Championship (BSSAC).

The class and talent displayed on track by Foundation’s athletes today at the National Stadium have certainly sent a statement for all rivals at the upcoming track and field championship.

After the day’s proceeding Talma ‘Purple’ House completed the hat-trick with 983 points ahead of Wellington ‘Red’ House with 855 and Inniss ‘Blue’ House third on 847. Skeete ‘Yellow’ House and Lynch ‘Green’ House were unable to keep up and came fourth and fifth on 621.50 and 556.50 points respectively.

The last time Foundation won anything at BSSAC was back in 1989 when they captured the girls title and with six to seven more weeks to go before BSSAC, physical education teacher Seibert Straughn was impressed with the high quality seen in all events by his athletes both on and off the field.

“Foundation is a school that is known for being strong on the track and they were eleven records set at the school and I think that is what was pleasing to us in terms of our preparations including the field events. Today in the four hundred meters they were four records broken and two in the one hundred meters. So I think it is a good start to the track season for Foundation School but we still have a lot of work to do,” Straughn said.

He noted that this year BSSAC will be split into two zones and they will feature in zone one with Springer Memorial who are the queens of secondary school track and field but Straughn made it clear they will not be intimidated by anyone and this year they have the all-round team needed to win the championship after placing second to the Lester Vaughan School in the boys and third in the girls last year.

“We don’t fear anyone and I mean Springer will want it just as bad as us and we will want it just as bad as them or any school for that matter. Springer have been the champions for a lot of years and we will show them that respect but we will not be intimidated by no one.

“If you want to do well at any championship you got to have an all-round team and we have Gabrielle Yearwood and Kobe Hutson in the juniors along with Hannah Connell, [Kevin Briggs] and Rivaldo Leacock in the seniors and it is very unfortunate what happened to Rivaldo today but we will do everything possible to make sure he recovers well,” Straughn explained.

A total of 11 records were already broken heading into the sports meet and another four went down at the start of the day’s proceedings in the 400m. Victrix ludorum Hannah Connell of Inniss House with 79 points in the under-17 division was among the record-breakers. She was like an inferno all day with two smashing performances in the 100m and 400m. Running out of lane six Connell replaced Tiadana Belle’s mark of 59.04 with a new time of 58.81 but that time was second best to Rosette Hoyte of Lynch who ran 58.78 in the same race that went down to the wire. Connell then returned in the 100m and produced a powerful run of 12.39 to better the 12.40 once held by Dana Rock. Connell also won the 200m, long jump and javelin, she was second in the triple jump and third in the 800m.

Not even the rain could have stopped the fiery pace that came from senior victrix ludorum Hannah Connell
of Inniss House. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)

The junior victrix ludorum title went to Chiara Chase of the victorious Talma House with a tally of 70 points in the under-15 age group. Chase won the 1500m, 3000m and javelin but came second in the 800m and discus throw while placing third in the long jump.

Junior victor ludorum Nathan Crawford-Wallis of Skeete House was like a runaway train in the under-15 boys division with his tall strides as he destroyed the field in the 400m, 200m and was second in the 100m behind Jean Pierre- Hinds. In the field events held at the school, Crawford- Wallis equalled the high jump record of 1.73m and also won the long jump, discus throw, javelin and shot put.

There was a tie for senior victor ludorum between the fastest boy at the school Kevin Briggs of Skeete House in the under-20 division and Laquan Trotman of Talma in the under-17. Both tallied 56 points.

Victor ludorum Kevin Briggs of Skeete House looked calm and composed in the under-20 boys 200m.

The former Lester Vaughan top athlete went over to sixth form at Foundation last year and will play a crucial role in their success come BSSAC. Briggs ran a swift 10.87 in the 100m to erase 10.90 once set back in 1994 by Andre Estwick and also claimed the long jump record with a distance of 7.01, he also won 200m which was a bitter sweet race when teammate Rivaldo Leacock impressively won the 400m earlier in the morning but pulled what was said to be his hamstring and did not finish the race. The 17-year-old Briggs was also second in the triple jump. Meanwhile Trotman in the under-15 category won the 400m, 100m, long jump and was second in the high jump.

Rivaldo Leacock of Lynch House won the under-20 boys 400m comfortably.

Other records were set by Gabrielle Yearwood of Lynch House in the under-13 girls 400m with a time of 1:03.90; Lelani Haddock of Talma in the under-15 400m in 1:01.03 and the high jump with a leap of 1.50m. Tiana Bowen of Skeete House reduced her time from 57 this past weekend at the Joseph Payne Memorial Classic to 56.62 today when she competed in the under-20 age group, Ashantia Phillips of Inniss cleared 1.70m in the under-20 girls high jump and Elizabeth Williams also in the senior division broke two records in the 800m with 2:27.38 and clocked 5:17.34 in the 1500m. Kofi McColin of Wellington ran 2:02.87 in the under-20 boys 800m and Kobe Hutson of Talma competing in the under-13 boys registered a new record time of 1:01.97 in the 400m.

Tiana Bowen of Skeete House was in a class of her own as she won all her races including this 200m.

Lelani Haddock of Talma House during her record breaking performance in the under-15 girls 400m.

Lynch House captured first and second in the under-13 girls 100m thanks
to Janae Goodman who edged out Gabrielle Yearwood on the line.

Skinner House now stands on the podium as the new champions of Alexandra’s Inter-house sports held today at the National Stadium.

There was no need for a recount at the end of the championship because Skinner decked in their light blue colours did not only defeat the four other houses on the track but they did so by a massive 922.6 points, more than 200 points ahead of the second-placed Arnold “Dark Blue” House’s 699.2. Oneal “Yellow” House were third with 693.7 points while last year’s champions Frederick ‘Red’ House had to settle for fourth with 649 points and Lyson “Green” House took fifth place with 500.8.

Skinner House are the champions of Alexandra School. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)

Skinner House had two track queens who dominated both the under-20 and under-13 division and in the process captured the victrix ludorum title in the senior and junior categories.

Shadae Worrell topped the juniors girls when she ended the day with a total of 48 and signalled her intentions at the start of the day’s proceeding by winning the 800m in 3:12.80 ahead of teammate Rianna Hinds in a time of 3:19.54. She also delivered in the 100m and 200m with times of 14.36 and 30.67 respectively. The 400m was a different story when Shaneeza Rasheed of Arnold House went out hard in the first 300m and kicked for home with a good effort of 1:12.55 ahead of Worrell 1:20.27 for second.

Senior victrix Tianna Catlyn was all about business and clearly has a liking for the quarter-mile event. She won the under-20 girls 800m with ease in 3:37.64 to cross the finish line ahead of Lee-ann Martindale of Arnold in 3:54.79. She also stamped her authority as the fastest girl at the school when she clocked 13.62 and to show it was not a fluke she came back and won the 200m in 28.43 along with the 400m in 1:09.60. Those victories went to her overall tally of 53 points.

Senior Victrix Ludorum Tianna Catlyn in the under-20 girls age group won all her races including the 800m.

Alexandra will no doubt be looking to leave some sort of impression at this year’s Barbados Secondary Schools Athletics Championship and they have a mini Bolt by the name of Thierry Jordan in the under-15 division who will definitely give other schools a run for their money.

The junior victor ludorum with 56 points was like a bullet clocking 58.26 in the 400m. He was again like a runaway train winning the 200m in 24.83 and in the 100m he also left the field in his wake with a good run of 12.21. He collected 56 points for Arnold House.

Thierry Jordan was in a class of his own winning all his races including this under-15 boys 200m.

Jordan, the son of Annastacia Jordan a former Barbadian athlete and Pedro, a former Barbados youth cricketer, told Barbados TODAY that 2015 was a rough year for him competing but this year he was more focused and ready for the challenge ahead.

“I am very impressed with myself. I have been training hard because last year I did not peak as I would have liked and I had to switch clubs and now I am doing well,” said the former St Stephen’s Primary pupil, who switched from University of the West Indies Blackbirds track club to Quantum Leap under the guidance of Gabriel Burnett. The 14-year-old has his eyes set on breaking the 200m and 400m at BSSAC and also to book his ticket for the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) track meet this year.

Another bright prospect for Alexandra at BSSAC will be a young man by the name of Agyei Phillips-Dectiville of Frederick House. The 17-year-old ended what may have been his final year at the school on a good note with 70 points to take senior victor ludorum honours. Phillips-Dectiville was the chief commander in the under-20 boys division winning the 800m with a time of 2:11.65. He was also first in the 400m running 53.76, his long strides allowed him to also capture the 200m in 23.94 and he showed in the 100m that he can also sprint winning in a time of 11.51.

Senior victor ludorum Agyei Phillips-Dectiville of Frederick House slammed the field in the under-20 boys 800m.

Shonita Brome, another brand name athlete in Alexandra’s line-up, has fully recovered from injury and told Barbados TODAY she is ready for competition this year and intends to go out hard for her school and make the CUT team. Brome of Oneal House only featured in one race of the day and that was the 800m in which cruised to the line in 2:46.64 to make light work of all-comers.

It was a close finish in the under-17 boys 100m when Tajiri Griffith of Lyson House barely edged out Oneal House pair of Savio Fergusson and Delano Williams.

Pan American Life Insurance Warrens may have won the 2015 Goddard Enterprises Limited Division One League title but they will need to source a new coach for the 2016 season.

Last night at the Wildey Gymnasium, coach Adrian Harewood told Barbados TODAY that even though it had been a joy working with the ladies of the Warrens team who defeated Carlton in straight sets 25-17, 25-16 and 25-23 to take the 2015 championship in what was a prolonged season, he would still be moving on.

Pan American Life Insurance Warrens are the Goddard Enterprises League champions. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)

Warrens topped the table on 53 points; Deacons were second with 48; and Barbados Juniors were third with 42. Toners ended on 35 points for fourth spot and Carlton finished fifth on 32.

Harewood said winning the cup was not as great a feeling as he would like but thanked the ladies for an all-round team effort and explained that he felt the need to move on and therefore had handed in his resignation.

“The feeling is not as great as we would like because of the constant breaking of the volleyball season [in 2015], one minute the girls practising because they have to play a game the next two days and when those two days come we hear that the volleyball get call off because we can’t get the Gymnasium to use. So it is really frustrating but I want to thank the ladies. I think they did a tremendous job, they worked really hard and they wanted to win.

“With the ability of the ladies on Warrens team I think they could have done better after 2012 [their last title win] and win a lot more cups. In any sport I find the ladies fight against themselves and not the other team. So that is where we fall down a lot. But as long as we play together without any quarreling there isn’t any team that will beat us,” said the successful coach who has had 11 years of success with Chargers women in the past.

It was a must-win game for Warrens who went into the finals on 48 points and just a point ahead of Deacons on 47. Unfortunately Deacons were unable to reap the same success as the men and surprisingly lost to Toners 20-25, 25-19, 25-19 and 25-19.

In the second game Warrens took the first two sets too easily and many were hoping to see something special from Carlton but that wasn’t the case. Sophie Walcott with the serve and a great set piece by Warrens allowed national player Anthazia Mason to score the first point of the third set via a soft touch. Talia Layne also joined Mason and tricked Carlton’s defence with another drop shot and before you knew it Warrens led 8-4.

At the second technical time out at 16-9 Warrens’ captain Rhe-Ann Niles with some hard attacking spikes on the outside had Carlton’s defence reeling. Credit must be given to Carlton for putting up some fight and cutting the deficit to just one point but it was not enough to stop an experience Warrens side from reaching their coveted goal.

A Gale force wind called Ka-Neil did serious damage at Combermere’s inter-house sports day at the Waterford, St Michael school grounds today.

Ka-Neil Gale, the victrix ludorum, tallied a whopping 91 points for Set B which captured their second consecutive title with 889 points. Some distance behind was Set D in second on 777.5 and Set E was third with 726. Set A’s 516 points got them fourth position, Set F had 461 for fifth and Set C came sixth with 366.5.

Ka-Neil Gale of Set B (right) won the 200m for Division 1 girls ahead of the fast-finishing Akilah Blackman of Set C.

Gale is competing in division one against her clubmate from Freedom Striders Akilah Blackman of Set C and also a former Graydon Sealy top athlete. Those two went at it neck and toe but each time Gale got the better of Blackman winning the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m. Gale was also second in the 1500m, 3000m, high jump, long jump, discus and was third in the javelin and fourth in the shot put.

Gale, a former student of the Alleyne School, said her eyes are set on making the CARIFTA team for the first time and so far preparation has been going well for her.

The victor ludorum title went to CARIFTA athlete Josiah Beckles also with 91 points. The Set F division 1 athlete stamped his authority in the 200m, 400m and also won the high jump. He came second in the 200m, 5000m and was third in the 100m and shot put.

Victor ludorum Josiah Beckles of Set F storms to victory in the senior boys 200m. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)

The 18-year-old said that in his final year at Combermere he wanted to make the CARIFTA team once more but this time with the aim of winning a medal. “I am not where I need to be preparation wise but I will fine-tune a few things in order to make it possible,” Beckles said.

Nathan Fergusson of Set E topped the division two boys with 66 points winning the 800m, long jump and triple jump while placing second in the 100m, 200m, and 400m behind Matthew Clarke of Set F who is the lone Combermerian to qualify for the CARIFTA Games in the 200m. Fergusson was third in the discus and javelin.

Division 4’s Kadri Walcott (centre) of Set A won the 200m.

Mikhail Carvalho represented Set E well to come out with 78 points in division three and his top performances came in the 100m, 400m, high jump, triple jump and long jump all of which he won. He placed second in the 200m, 800m and third in the discus. Meanwhile Zachary Taylor of Set B had 38 points as he won the 800m, discus, took second in the 400, and third in the long jump.

Zada Gray of Set E competing in division three was outstanding for her total of 39 points. Gray won the 400m, 800m, and was second in the 200m and third in the long jump. Another brand name athlete at Combermere is Raneisha Forde-Morris of Set A. She won the 400m, 800m and was second in the 100m, 200m and 1500m. Jade Hynds of Set B with 44 points took the division four girls championship.

(From left) Najee Holder, Theo Greenidge, Gabriel Moore and Kadeem Brathwaite won the 4x100m Division 1 relay.

The 2016 Cooperators General Insurance-sponsored Barbados Amateur Basketball Association’s Knockout trophy is now up for the taking and Station Hill Cavaliers and Hilton Barbados Warriors will decided who want it more when they meet in the final.  Last night Warriors were responsible for denying last year’s champions Orange Three Pinelands from advancing.

Jamai Puckerin (No. 12) of Station Hill Cavaliers tries to block Antonio Sealy of Pan American Insurance Warrens.

In the first semifinal encounter of the Premier League knockout at the Wildey Gymnasium, the Nicholas King-led unit secured their place after defeating Pinelands 69-59. The score sheet read 16-10, 28-30, 43-42 after three quarters. In the second semifinal Pan American Insurance Warrens with their star player Andre Lockhart on the court, went down 52-45 to the Cavaliers. The Cavs led 11-9, 25-18, 43-27 after three.

It was a close game between Warriors and Pinelands with just a mere point separating them at the end of the third quarter.  Warriors upped their game in the fourth and decisive period and much of that as a result of the play of small forward Ricardo Toussaint with a game-high 22 points. Shooting guard Corey McDonald 18 and King 14 played a crucial role in getting the better of Charles Vanderpool’s men. Pinelands only managed 15 points in the fourth quarter and despite a good effort from shooting guard Jeremy Gill who ended on 18 points and 13 from point guard Ramon Simmons, they simply lost the plot when it mattered most.

Ricardo Toussaint of Warriors goes to the basket for another two points. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)

The score was 55-49 to Warriors with just under four minutes to go when Pinelands worked up a strategy to utilize the wings and pass the ball around away from Warriors defenders and that resulted in Derion Hurley nailing a beautiful three point shot to take their tally on to 52 but Toussaint and company waited patiently for their openings especially Justin Maloney with some great assists to Toussaint who either shot or drove to the basket off the dribble to put daylight between his team and Pinelands.

It should be an interesting match when Warriors take on a youthful Cavaliers side but no doubt Cavaliers will need to step up their game because their semifinal game against Warrens yesterday was not an eye-opening affair. In fact it was as though the game was played in slow motion.

At half time Cavaliers had a seven point advantage and just when one thought Warrens, the 2015 league champions, were going to give them a run for their money it was the complete opposite as they accounted for just nine points in the third quarter. Warrens allowed too many free throws to go a begging and failed to connect on offence whenever the ball was in their possession. Dario Cumberbatch with 15 points and Manuel Alleng with 14 put on a good show for them in a losing cause.

Cavalier center Jamai Puckerin ended on 14 points and provided an importance defensive presence in the middle for his side. But that was noticeably lacking on the Warrens end as they were without the services of the big man Pearson Griffith. Even though they had Antonio Sealy making an effort in the center he wasn’t the same intimidating force as Griffith.

Cavaliers were not affected by Sealy’s presence in anyway and went on to extend their lead by a 16-point margin in the third quarter and never looked back.

The knockout final is scheduled for Saturday, February 13 at the Wildey Gymnasium.

Elizabeth “Purple” House are the champions of the St Michael School’s inter-house sports held today at the National Stadium.

(From left) Temika Jordan, Jaria Hoyte, Briana Rollock and Ariel Burke won the under-20 girls 4x100m relay for the victorious Elizabeth House.

They tallied a massive 1007 to dethrone 2015 champions Boadicea “Blue” House who came second with 821 points; Anne “Yellow” House were third with 786.5 and Victoria “Red” House were fourth with 690.5 points.

(From left) Zayn Nicholson, Tyreke Norville, Nathan Cox and Aaron Worrell led Boadicea to victory in the senior boys sprint medley.

Under-17 athlete Jadon Broome of Anne House was victor ludorum. He threw 39.79m to win javelin, took the long jump with a leap of 5.67m, captured the high jump at 1.60m and won the triple jump at 11.97. On the track he won the 1500m in a time of 5:26.80 and placed third in the 400m with a time of 55.34 and in the 800m he clocked a winning 2:30.96.

Ashley Weekes of Elizabeth House was victrix ludorum with a total of 70 points. She won the long jump in 4.16, the 1500m in 5:58.72 and just to prove how good she was at the distance events she ran 1:05.00 to win the 400m. She was second in the 100m running 13.95, second in the 200m in 27.99 and also second best in the 800m in 2:56.46.

Ashley Weekes jumped 4.16 to win the under-15 girls long jump.

Zariah Knight of Victoria House held off stiff competition from Ashley Weekes of Elizabeth House in the under-15 girls 200m.

Kiera Forde-Richards collected 52 points for Boadicea.  She was first in the 100m in 12.36 and also won the 200m in 24.82 seconds. She also placed third in the 400m in a time of 1:03.10. She clocked 6:26.26 in the 1500m for a similar third position. The under-17 girls division belonged to Xhane Greenidge of Victoria House with 44 points. She jumped 1.50m to win the high jump. She came second in the javelin with a 20.90 throw and also ran 12.99 seconds for second in the 100m and 28.38 for a similar placement in the 200m.

Teniel Chapman-Goodluck of Victoria House topped the under-13 girls with 38 points and those resulted from winning the long jump at a distance of 4.16m, as well as the high jump with a leap of 1.32m. She was also good enough to win the 100m when she stopped the clock at 15.27 seconds but had to settle for second place in the 400m while running 1:21.21.

Aaron Worrell of Boadicea was impressive collecting 81 points in the unde-20 boys division. He basically won everything in sight. He had a record-breaking jump of 1.98m in the high jump, a distance of 6.55 in the long jump and 13.75 in the triple jump. He also ran away from the field in the 100m while clocking 11.80, he won the 400m in 50.61, took the 200m  in 23.32 and clocked 2.24.22  to win the 800m.

Aaron Worrell of Boadicea House broke the under-20 boys high jump.

Darian Clarke of Elizabeth House tallied 47 points which allowed him to capture the under-15 boys division title. He won the long jump at 5.47m and was second in the high jump at a height of 1.35m. He was also victorious in the 100m, 200m and 400m. J’Noy Davis of Anne House won the 100m, 200m and 400m while accumulating 48.5 points to capture the U-13 division title.

Darian Clarke commanded the under-15 boys 200m for Elizabeth House.

Barbados Community College (BCC) are the Massy Stores-sponsored National Sports Council’s Under-19 Volleyball champions for a second consecutive year.

Barbados Community College captured their second consecutive under-19 volleyball knockout title yesterday. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)

They hosted Combermere this evening and did not give them the most pleasant welcome as they dished out a three straight 25-12, 25-21 and 25-17 beating in what was really a one-sided affair for BCC who had a line-up of mostly junior national players.

The BCC coach Lerone Knight told Barbados TODAY he did not expect Combermere to hand them the title so easily but was otherwise happy with his team’s performance despite a few hiccups.

“For me I thought Combermere would put up a better game towards the final. I don’t know if it is the jitters at the final, but I expected them to really push at us and we really didn’t get that. But they second set was more competitive and I really like that they actually tried,” Knight said.

He added: “We lost some of our players due to injuries, lack of fitness and exams, so the core of our team isn’t actually here but the ones that normally fill in actually showed up so we had a good game. We had to focus on getting the guys to learn how to play together because the issue is once they come into BCC they come from different schools. So to actually get them to come together is somewhat of a challenge and we don’t have as much time to put the team together so we focus on discipline and having them adhere to each other.”

Combermere got off to a poor start and needed to rebound in the second set which they tried to do when they came from behind to tie the scores 15-15 but BCC took a one point lead at the second technical time out.

That made for an interesting set and junior national player Shevin Blades with two quality serves put his team on 18 and extended their lead by three. Another junior player is Paul Doughty who played a major role for Combermere and he was busy with assistance from Rashaun Alleyne who hit hard through BCC’s defence when the opportunity presented itself. Doughty at that stage hit hard to pull one back and that was followed by Alleyne with a block at the nets to take the Waterford lads on to 17 and from there on things got interesting when the scores were locked at 19-19. There was no stopping Alleyne and he came up with a nice block to give his side the lead 20-19 when Knight called time out for BCC. Community College then regained the momentum and lead compliments of Ashan Jordan with three good serves.

It was 23-20 to BCC when Alleyne swung hard for a point down the middle but it was not enough to stop the destruction of Carlos Cyrus’ thunderous strike and from there on BCC went on to take the win. BCC then closed out the game in grand fashion with some fantastic hard-hitting shots in all directions of the court. Combermere had their moments but BCC were simply too good on the day.

Junior national player Carlos Cyrus goes for another one of his vicious spikes against
Combermere from the outside.

 It was trice as nice for Queen’s College girls who have won their third consecutive Massy Stores-sponsored National Sports Council’s Volleyball under-19 double crown championship.

Queen’s College girls are the Under-19 champions once again. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)

The Barbados Community College came alive this afternoon when favorites Queen’s College trounced Christ Church Foundation girls in straight sets 25-22, 25-22 and 25-21 to continue their unbeaten run. 

Queen’s College’s victorious coach Andrew Brathwaite told Barbados TODAY even though they only managed to train three times in the entire competition, it was the team discipline that allowed Queen’s College to be so successful on court.

“The girls fall in love with the sport and whatever I ask them to do they do. So once they maintain the discipline then we don’t have any issues. What we try to do is have girls playing volleyball at every form level so that we can work on the continuity. For example the last three years we were able to feed in players even though one or two players have left school. We entered two teams this year and our B team will return next year so they are preparing to win next year as well,” Brathwaite said. 

In the first set the scores were 20-16 when Chanta Moore and Selina Hollingsworth of Foundation with a good block at the nets, followed by a shot from the hard hitting Aaliyah Durant and net interference by QC, assisted the Christ Church girls to stay alive. But only for a short time because Queen’s College composed themselves and came back into the game thanks to a poor serve from Tesscline Moore of Foundation. From there on the defending champions progressed to 24 and they went on to take the set by a three-point margin even though they had Alleyne giving it her all on the outside.

The score line ended in similar fashion also in the second set. Again Queen’s College kept the advantage 16-14 at the second technical time out. The girls from Husbands St James had a top squad of national players who were experienced enough to be patient with some lovely set pieces and pounced on every opportunity to spike at the nets, especially the trio of captain Janine Mayers, Cairo Blenman and Kayla James. That didn’t stop Foundation from digging deep and they did well to lock the scores at 17-17 and then lead 19-17 when Mayers hit outside the line and Dominique Best was blocked by Foundation defenders Moore and Hollingsworth.

Cario Blenman of Queen’s College takes on Christ Church Foundation’s defence and won the battle.

At 19-18 Brathwaite called time-out for Queen’s College but Durant continued where she left off for Foundation. The competitiveness of the game was soon in display as Queen’s College took the lead at 21-20. A few errors by Foundation in the latter stages of the game cost them to lose the second set by a three-point margin once more and gave their opponents a 2-0 lead. As expected Queen’s College went for the kill with increased intensity and ensured they won the third set and reclaimed the trophy once more. 

Yellow House are unofficially the toast of St Joseph Primary once again after winning the inter-house sports for a second consecutive year at Grantley Adams Secondary School grounds today.

It was a close battle but when the curtains came down on the day’s exciting activities, Yellow House were tops with 330 points, just ahead of the second placed Blue House with 327 and Red House on 324 points for third place.

Queen of the track Brieanna Boyce of Blue House was in terrific form as she dismissed the field in every event to end the day with 40 points and the victrix ludorum title in the under-13 girls division. Boyce came into the meet with ten points from winning the 600m open at the school and went on to increase her tally when she opened the day by winning the 100m, 200m and 400m comfortably.

(From left) Brieanna Boyce, Keandra Howard, Lashaunte Sobers and Nakeena Harding won the sprint medley and 4x100m relay for Blue House.

Victrix ludorum Brieanna Boyce of Blue House was all class as she won all her races ahead of main rival Alicia Miller of Yellow House in the under-13 girls division.

Khalid Padmore of Red House with 38 points took away the victor ludorum trophy and he also came into the day with ten points having won the 800m at school. He showed his form today by winning the 200m and 400m but came second in the 100m behind Isaiah Quimby of Yellow House.

Victor ludorum went to the fastest boy at St Joseph Primary Khalid Padmore of Red House, in the under-13 division.

The under-11 girls division went to Imani Firebrace of Yellow House with 28 points. She won the 200m and 400m but had to settle for second in the 100m behind Nakeena Harding of Blue House and third in the 600m open. In the boys under-11 age group, Zane Cox collected 24 points and stamped his authority for Red House. He won the 100m, came second in the 400m and placed third in the 200m.

Imani Firebrace was victorious in the 200m and also topped the under-11 girls division for Yellow House.

Zane Cox of Red House won the under-11 boys 100m convincingly.

Kyra Williams of Red House topped the under-nine girls division with 26 points after her efforts in winning the 80m, taking second in the 100m and 150m behind Miracle Collymore of Blue House. Meanwhile Jacobi Mayers of Yellow House had his way in the under-nine boys as he won the 80m and 100m and came second in the 150m behind Jucario Sealy of Blue House.

Miracle Collymore was victorious in the under-nine girls 100m for Blue House.

Orange Three Pinelands Captain Charles Vanderpool found the basketball less than four seconds before the game ended to give his side a one-point 62-61 victory over Pan American Warrens last night. 

Orange Three Pinelands captain Charles Vanderpool drives to the basket against Pan American Warrens. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)

It was a nail-biter from the beginning of the opening quarter when the two sides met at the Wildey Gymnasium in the Co-operators General Insurance-sponsored Barbados Amateur Basketball Association Division One League competition. The scores after the first three quarters were 11-12, 23-22, 38-44 to Pinelands who did well to deny Warrens.

Both sides never let up and shooting guard Jeremy ‘Bull’ Gill ended with a game-high 26 points and Vanderpool 15 for Pinelands. Meanwhile Andre Pierre top scored with 20 points and Dario Cumberbatch had 12 for Warrens.

Gill opened the game with a three-pointer and the scores were 11-10 to Pinelands when Pierre earned himself two free throws seconds before the first quarter ended to give Warrens the lead. 

The second period was just as tight when Gill scored a free throw to get back parity and that was followed by a steal and resulting slam-dunk from Jonathan Fitt and a two-point shot by Derion Hurley allowed Pinelands to regain the advantage and take their tally to18 points. They maintained the advantage at half time by a mere one point even though Pierre, Cumberbatch along with the veterans Adrian Allman and Greig Springer were busy hustling at the other end for Warrens.  

In the third quarter Warrens came from behind and tied the scores at 36. Pinelands’ defence frequently lapsed and they allowed Richie Walker and Allman basically to camp unmarked in the back court waiting for outlet passes to come their way and when they did they did not miss. That allowed Warrens to take a six-point lead heading into the fourth and decisive period. Vanderpool with a two point shot carried Pinelands’ total to 40 and the game got interesting with fewer than six minutes to play when Allman buried a three-pointer to take Warrens to 51 points and Gill nailed two consecutive three pointers for Pinelands to take them on to 53.

If anyone was asleep in the stands those shots certainly roused them because it was anybody’s game at that stage. The scores were 61-60 to Warrens with fewer than four seconds left in the game when Pinelands coach Renaldo Maughn called time out and strategize with his side. On resumption Vanderpool received an inbound pass and slammed it home for the win while Warrens’ defence was caught napping.

In the other game played St Sonics defeated Patriots 70-62 after leading 17-10, 38-27, 58-37 at the quarters. Kevin Robinson top- scored with 19 points, Decino Corbin ended on 12 and Dwayne Kellman ten for St John Sonics. Meanwhile for Patriots Justin Gaskin ended with 18, Shawn Ifill had 17 and Stefan Brathwaite had ten for Patriots.

Stefan Clarke of St John Sonics goes for another shot against Patriots.

St Catherine’s Primary came, saw and conquered all before them, taking a clean sweep of the Obadele Thompson Zone when the 2016 National Primary Schools Athletics Championship got underway at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex today.

A total of five records were broken at the Ryan Brathwaite Track. St Catherine’s defended their boys’ title with 158 points, ahead of St Ambrose Primary with 120 and Boscobel in third with 109 points. St Mark’s Primary were fourth on 97 points and St James Primary’s 91 points got them fifth spot. St Catherine’s in their green attire ended the day on a high when they tallied 184 points to dethrone last year’s zonal queens St James Primary who came second with 145 points and St Mark’s third on 137. St Ambrose were fourth with 123 points and St Elizabeth tallied 72.50 points for fifth position.

Victrix ludorum Deneisha Forde of St Catherine’s Primary as she wins the U-11 long jump.

St Catherine’s broke two of those records when under-seven division champion Akeri Davis who ended on 25 points jumped 1.47m in the standing broad event to replace the old 1.39m mark. Davis also ran 9:33 to win the 50m but was fourth in the cricket ball throw.

Under-nine athlete Kaliah Tull’s 3.09m in the long jump put her in the history books for St Catherine’s Primary. She finished the day with 28 points after winning the 100m in 16.99 but she was unable to do the double after running 26.26 to clock the second fastest time behind Shavania Hackett of St Ambrose Primary whose 26.25 got her first place in the 150m.

Victor ludorum Ryon Stuart was impressive for Boscobel Primary ending the day with 30 points. He set a new mark of 12.59 to erase the previous record of 12:60 in the 80m. He also stamped his authority running 16.43 to win the 100m and also took the 150m in a time of 24.74. Deneisha Forde of St Catherine’s claimed the victrix ludorum title and will have the honour of defending it next year because she is competing at under-11. She ran 1:15.95 in the 400m, in the long jump she measured 3.42m and for the cricket ball she threw 24.27 for her overall total of 30 points.

Two records also tumbled in the girls 600m open when Isha Adamson of St Elizabeth ran 2:02.41 and Achauna Belgrave of St Ambrose 2:02.42 to remove the previous mark of 2:03.02. While Jahzaria Ward also of St Elizabeth jumped 1.46m to replace the previous 1:37m in the under-seven girls standing broad jump. Ward accumulated 28 points as she also won the cricket ball throw at a distance of 15m but had the second fastest time of 10:00 in the 50m.

Jahzaria Ward of St Elizabeth leapt 1.46m to set a new record in the under-seven girls’ standing broad jump.

Keiron Haynes was the best among the under-11 boys with 23 points representing St Ambrose Primary. He won the 100m and 200m in 14.62 and 30.65 respectively but came sixth in the 400m.

Meanwhile in the under-13 division, Darielle Taitt put in a commendable effort for St James Primary’s girls who were on a quest to defend their title but fell short. Taitt finished with 28 points that resulted from winning both the 100m in 14.42 and the 200m in 29.98. She got more points by finishing second fastest in the 400m with a time of 1:12.13 behind Adamson’s 1:08.96. Jamari Benn of Half Moon Fort ended with 24 points after winning the 200m in 29.15 and the cricket ball throw at a massive 50.10m.

Darielle Taitt of St James Primary won her heat of the under-13 girls 400m.

When it came down to the relays St James Primary ran away with three wins in the under-nine girls 4X100m and both the boys and girls 800m-sprint medley. St Mark’s won both the under-11 and under-13 girls 4X100m relays. Meanwhile the other relays were shared one each among Boscobel winning the under-nine boys 4x100m, St Ambrose in the under-11 boys 4x100m and Workmans Primary took the under-13 boys 4x100m.

Shatori Eversley (left) of St Bernard’s Primary dips at the line to win his heat of the under-13 boys 100m.

It was a close one but in the end Station Hill Cavaliers ensured they are the new title holders of the Cooperators General Insurance-sponsored Barbados Amateur Basketball Association’s Knockout Championship.

Station Hill Cavaliers are the Cooperators General Insurance Barbados Amateur Basketball Association Knockout champions. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay).

This past weekend at the Wildey Gymnasium, Cavaliers got past Hilton Resort Warriors 73-70 thanks to top scores of 20 points from guard Joel Hunte, Jamai Puckerin’s 13 and Adrian Yearwood’s 11 points. At the end of the opening quarter Warriors led 12-8 but the youthful Cavaliers side composed themselves to take the momentum away from Warriors and seize the advantage at 38-32 and 62-49 at the end of the second and third quarters respectively.

Warriors gave it their best shot thanks to quality performances from power forward Jamal Headley who ended with a game-high 24 points along with captain Nicholas King who contributed 20 points and Justin Maloney who chipped in with ten.

Jamal Headley top-scored for Hilton Resort Warriors
in a losing cause against Station Hill Cavaliers.

With the retirement of former star players like the inspirational Andrew Alleyne and others, Cavaliers are rebuilding a team hoping to one day retain the aura they once held. This was their first knockout trophy since 2010 and victorious coach Adrian Craigwell said from here on they could only grow from strength to strength.

He said preparation for the competition had not been the best due to the poor lighting situation at their Station Hill court.

“We have been having some challenges with the National Sports Council fixing the light at Station Hill and it has cost us. Since the first of November we wanted to hold an Independence tournament and we had to call it off and we have been promised several times and we have been in contact with them in terms of getting the light fixed. Right now it is just a matter of playing half court [due to the light situation] that is why we were kind of rusty at the start with our players moving up and down and not having the ability to move the basketball. But the unit is together and once we are together we will make sure that we remember certain things we have to do in open court,” Craigwell explained.

Despite the circumstances Craigwell was pleased with his team’s performance on the night even though they were without top players like Aamir Morris.

A four-point lead isn’t anything to go by in the early stages of a final or any basketball game for that matter and Cavaliers proved that when Kevin Sealy’s lay up cut the deficit down to two and Stephan Ottley’s three pointer followed by two free throws once more allowed them to take a one point advantage at 15-14.

From there Cavaliers’ offence went on a frenetic run and they added another ten points during the second quarter that forced Warriors’ coach Fredrick Bynoe to call time out.

Warriors appeared much more aggressive after their chat with Bynoe and that resulted in a number of free throws awarded to them as they drove to the basket and drew several fouls. And if that was not the case King was busy utilizing outside the ring for his three point shots which he nailed on most occasions and if he could not get a shot in, the ball would go to Headley who ensured he kept one step ahead of Cavaliers defenders in order to give spectators their monies worth with some massive dunks.

The scores were 29-26 to Cavaliers when Hunte hit two free throws to take their tally on to 31 and they eventually progressed to 38. Warriors trailed them closely and King again was responsible for taking them on to 30 points and Headley made it 32 soon after but they got no closer than six points at half time.

When the penultimate quarter began Cavaliers moved on to 40 points rather quickly and before one knew it they were up 51-38 thanks to some great execution of passes from outside the circle to Puckerin in the center who muscled his way to the basket for vital points. Warriors eventually reached 41 points through a free throw from Justin Maloney and a drive to the basket by Headley for another two.

Cavaliers continued to apply the pressure and they went into the decisive quarter with a 13-point advantage. Hunte with two more points took his side to 64 at the start of the fourth quarter but Warriors with a never-say-die attitude fought well and connected on a few three-point shots. But it was clear that with two minutes to go in the game and Cavaliers up 70-65 that Warriors needed something special from King and company. That never really came as  Station Hill defended as though their lives depended on it and stifled basically all of  Warriors goal-scoring opportunities for their narrow win.

It was a proud moment for teenager Shian Brathwaite who made his umpiring debut recently when Wanderers and Pickwick juniors played in the ongoing Barbados Cricket Supplies-sponsored Barbados Cricket Association’s Under-13 Cricket Competition.

Umpire Shian Brathwaite on the job he loves.

Perhaps one of the youngest if not the youngest umpire in Barbados at age 16, Brathwaite told Barbados TODAY he was hoping for a call after passing the umpires course last year and when he finally got the call to officiate his first match he became a bit anxious but was grateful for the opportunity.

“From when I was younger I always fancy being an umpire. I just like doing everything an umpire has to do. So when I got older I asked my coach Trevor Alleyne if I could umpire and he advised me to do it and so far I am loving it,” he said.

A happy-looking Brathwaite graced Foursquare Oval cricket ground in St Phillip around noon in his capacity as a umpire beside the owner of Barbados Cricket Suplies Leslie Reifer who is also a First Class umpire at the regional level.

The fifth-form Combermere student explained he felt a bit nervous during his first over but became more relaxed thanks to words of encouragement from Reifer who he looks up to and with whom he was pleased to umpire.

“He told me not to worry about anything, don’t hustle and just enjoy myself.

“It was a pleasure to walk out on to the field with Mr Reifer seeing him on television umpiring first class games made me happy to be officiating my first game with him. I also look up to him because like myself he did the (umpires) course young and therefore we have something in common,” said the former Hilda Skeene pupil.

It seems umpiring isn’t the only thing Brathwaite has his eyes set on. He told Barbados TODAY of his intention to one day represent West Indies as an opening batsman.

Currently a member of the Barbados under-17 cricket team, Brathwaite revealed that sometime this year he will make his debut for Wanderers, a club that has some West Indies players in the line-up including captain Jason Holder.

The talented right handed opener who already has nine centuries in his young career with four of those being for Combermere, will join his uncle Shawn Armstrong at Wanderers.

“My intention is to make the Barbados senior team at age eighteen or nineteen and I am working towards that. Cricket is my main focus. I am just doing umpiring in my free time and it actually helps me with my cricket in terms of knowing the rules,” said Brathwaite, who once captained Combermere’s under-13 and 15 teams.

The young lad from Bayfield, St Phillip said he did not intend to lose sight of his goals and would continue to chart his course and hopefully one day join an elite list of international cricketers from his school such as the great Sir Wesley Hall, current West Indies Test vice-captain and opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite along with all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite and many others.

Two spectacular goals by captain Romario Harewood and Ricardo Morris registered a 2-0 victory for Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme over Rendezvous yesterday at the Wildey, St Michael AstroTurf in the ongoing Digicel-sponsored Barbados Football Association’s Premier League.

Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme captain Romario Harewood
scored a superb goal against Rendezvous. (Picture by Morissa Lindsay).

It seems like the Vincentian party is coming to an end for Rendezvous who recruited five players from St Vincent but noticeably striker Shandel Samuel is the only one still around. So that leaves the question where are the Vincentians? No doubt Samuel and Rendezvous needed assistance last night and one can only imagine if they had skillful striker Myron Samuel, Romano Snagg and Emerald George to give BDFSP a run for their money, they might have stood a better chance of keeping up with the soldiers and perhaps even out-playing them.

A total of 13 goals were scored on the night and lots of excitement is always anticipated when BDFSP and Rendezvous clash but the Soldiers got the better of them starting with Harewood in the 33rd minute when BDFSP attacked Rendezvous’ defence and the national striker found an inviting opening just outside the 18-yard box and he buried the ball past custodian Albert Brathwaite.

They went into the second half with a 1-0 lead and extended their advantage with another gem of a goal from Morris in the 51st minute. The central defender took a long range shot about 45 yards out from the right and the ball sailed over the head of keeper Brathwaite and into the back of the nets. That was definitely cause for celebration and BDFSP could have made it number three but goalkeeper Brathwaite did well to deny Jamal Alleyne and ensure BDFSP did not make it 3-0.

Rendezvous had their rare moments inside the box but their main man Samuel just could not connect and last year’s leading goal scorer Dwayne Stanford has so far failed to make any significant impact for his new team Rendezvous after playing at least four games for this season.

Just one point separate BDFSP who are behind University of the West Indies (UWI) Blackbirds who are out front on 15 points. Both teams have so far played six games. UWI have won five games so far while BDFSP have four in their bag along with Weymouth Wales who are also on 14 in third position. Paradise are on fourth with 13 points and Brittons Hill round off the top five with ten points.

In the other game played UWI defeated Brittons Hill 4-1 compliments a Mario Harte hattrick that came in the 41st, 84th and 90th minutes of the game. The other goal came off the boot of Jairo Lombardo very early in the 19th minute while T’Shane Lorde scored Brittons Hill’s lone goal in the 89th minute.

Meanwhile Weymouth Wales came from behind to defeat Empire 4-2 in the first encounter of the afternoon. Empire scored first through Dwayne Stewart in the 22nd minute and this was followed by Wales’ equalizer in the 43rd minute thanks to Hadan Holligan.

Empire regained the lead in the 49th minute compliments of Ormando McLeod. Then Wales ran riot with goals from Kemar Headley (56th and 67th minutes) and Holligan
(61st minute).