QC’S TWO-TIME champs are now three times lucky.
It’s almost like clockwork for the Green Machine, using a victrix ludorum performance from Jessica Theobalds to convert yet another girls’ championship into an overall title-winning effort during Queen’s College’s Powerade Inter-House meet at the National Stadium.
The triumph was Green’s third in as many years following yesterday’s meet-high 1 055 point-tally – 543 of which were accumulated by Theobalds, Kiara Maynard and their prolific girl band.
Former winners Red, last champs in 2009, had to settle for second overall (979) and the boys’ crown (628) after failing to make inroads into the initial 59-point deficit in spite of the efforts of Callum Wright, Ariko Small, Jamarley Toney and Alana Ince.
Purple (940.5) – house of CARIFTA athlete Raphael Jordan – were just a further 39.5 points adrift in third, with Yellow (822.5), Blue (816.5) and Orange (707.5) rounding out the field of six.
But the day was always just a three-horse race among Green, Red and Purple as only 77 points separated the top three sides at the start.
And no one division symbolized that battle quite like the Under-20 Boys’, where Jordan, Rory Grant (Red) and Ken Mason squared off in the much-anticipated 100 metre showdown.
Jordan eventually held off his rivals for the race – and the division crown – after watching Grant lead for the sprint’s first 60 metres before closing out to win in a hand-timed 10.56 seconds.
However, Mason got his revenge in the 200m following a discouraging 10.87 clocking in the 100, holding off Jordan’s strong finish to win in 22.15 seconds.
Jordan had already rattled off wins in the 100 hurdles (14.41) and 400 hurdles (57.98) to go along with two second-place efforts in the long and triple jumps and a bronze-medal effort in the 200 (22.37).
But Green House’s lead never seemed threatened, not after Theobalds and Maynard continued to make light work of the competition on the track.
Maynard cruised to victory in the 100 (12.15), 200 (25.84) and 400 (1:01.75) and high jump for an Under-17-leading 55 points.
Theobalds finished as the girls’ top point-getter, winning the sprint and distance hurdles as well as coming second in 400, long and high jumps.
Green’s teen queen added third-place efforts in the 100, 200, 800 and triple jump for good measure, giving her 73 points in the Under-20 category.
It still had nothing on the performance of Blue’s Dwayne Corbin, who won the Under-15 and victor ludorum titles with a meet-high 85 points on wins in the long jump, javelin and distance hurdles.
Yet, his might not have even been the best showing in that division.
Corbin had to settle for silver in the two sprints after speedster Michael Belgrave cptured the 100 (12.15), 200 (25.84) and 400 (1:01.75).
The day’s biggest story was reserved for sprint queen Christanna McConney, who could only manage a pair of silver medals in the Under-15 Girls’ long and high jumps and a third-place finish in the 100 while struggling with a hip injury.
Ince took home the 200, 400, long jump, sprint and distance hurdles for a division-leading 62 points. About all she lost was a thrilling 100 metre showdown with Orange’s Timeka Jordan, who won in 12:27 seconds.
Fast-rising Under-17 sprinter Ariko Small (Red) dominated his division with victories in the 100 (11.31), 200 (22.80) and 400 (50.92), and second-place finishes in the 800, 1 500, triple jump and distance hurdles.
However, those efforts merely managed him a seat behind teammate Jamarley Toney, who tallied a division-best 74 points following wins in the triple jump, distance hurdles, 800 and 1 500.
HONOUR ROLL:
Division Champions
Under-13 Girls: not available
Under-13 Boys: Renaldo Bowen (Green) 38 points
Under-15 Girls: Alana Ince (Red) 62
Under-15 Boys: Dwayne Corbin (Blue) 85
Under-17 Girls: Kiara Maynard (Green) 55
Under-17 Boys: Jamarley Toney (Red) 74
Under-20 Girls: Jessica Theobalds (Green) 73
Under-20 Boys: Raphael Jordan (Purple) 66
Victrix ludorum: Dwayne Corbin
Victor ludorum: Jessica Theobalds
Final Points: 1. 1 055 points, 2. Red 979, 3. Purple 940.5, 4. Yellow 822.5, 5. Blue 816.5, 6. Orange 377.5
Girls: 1. Green 543, 2. Purple 447, 3. Blue 377, 4. Red 351, 5. Orange 330, 6. Yellow 308
Boys: 1. Red 628, 2. Yellow 514.5, 3. Green 512, 4. Purple 493.5, 5. Blue 439.5, 6. Orange 377.5
Position last five years at BSSAC:
Girls: 2007 – 176 points, 3rd; 2008 – 180.75 points, 4th; 2009 – 165.5 points, 4th; 2010 – 231.5, 2nd; 2011 – 234 points, 2nd.
Boys: 2007 – 275 points, 2nd; 2008 – 314.5 points, 1st; 2009 – 305.5 points, 2nd; 2010 – 228 points, 2nd; 2011 – 262 points, 1st.
