The title race of the 2024 Dasani Powerade Barbados Secondary School Athletics Championships (BSSAC) is finely poised this year with The St Michael School and Combermere leading the Girls and Boys categories, respectively, after two days of semi finals at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex.
The St Michael School overtook favourites Combermere by 5.5 points to sit atop the Girls’ table with 94.50 points with Combermere closing in on 87 points. However, the ‘University of Waterford’ tightened their grip on the Boys’ standings as their 116 points opened up a twenty-four-point gap between them and Queen’s College who have 92 points.
Last year’s girls’ champions, Springer Memorial, are cut adrift from the summit as they sit in eighth position on 29 points. Harrison College are in a better position to defend their throne from third position on 87 points, twenty nine points behind Combermere among the boys.
Speaking to the media after the semi final stage of BSSAC, track and field coach at Combermere, Jarad Murray, said he was happy with the start they made to the competition.
“We had a plan going in to advance to the next round and I believe that we have achieved most of what we set out to do,” Murray began. “We had some areas where we fell down that we had bigger plans for but that is gone, we’ve buried that and we move on. Ahead of the finals, we are just going to make sure all the athletes are comfortable and any niggles they have, we’ll deal with that. We’ll be having little pep talks with them to help them understand the task we have at hand is a big one and they’re able to do it.”
Head of Physical Education at The St Michael School, Gabriel Burnett, is similarly content with proceedings, giving credit to the numerous coaches and teachers who chipped in to help the school perform at peak capacity.
Burnett said “The first two days went according to plan, we did have a few hiccups but things went how we expected them to. We were hoping for a couple more points and that didn’t happen but overall we are pleased with how things went. We are always a year in advance so when last year’s BSSAC was over we knew who we had for this year. We are detailed and we have an idea where all of our points will come from.”
The action continues at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex on Thursday at 10 a.m. when the finals get under way.
Girls Standings
- The St Michael School 94.50
- Combermere School 89
- Alleyne School 80
- Harrison’s College 71
- Queen’s College 34
- Princess Margaret Secondary 31
- Christ Church Foundation School 30
- Springer Memorial School 29
- St George Secondary School 25
- The Lodge School 25
- Coleridge and Parry 25
- Alexandra School 10
- Grantley Adams Memorial School 9
- Daryll Jordan Secondary School 8
- Graydon Sealy Secondary 8
- The Ellerslie School 6
- Lester Vaughan School 5.50
- Deighton Griffith Secondary School 5
Male Standings
- Combermere School 116
- Queen’s College 92
- Harrison College 87
- Christ Church Foundation School 59
- The St Michael School 58
- St Leonard’s Boy’s Secondary* 57
- Coleridge and Parry 45
- Frederick Smith Secondary School 35
- The Lodge School 26
- Alleyne School 25
- St George Secondary School 22
- The Lester Vaughan School 15
- Alexandra School 14
- Deighton Griffith Secondary School 12
- Parkinson Memorial School 12
- Daryll Jordan Secondary School 11
- The Ellerslie School 5
- Young Explorers Barbados 5
- Grantley Adams Memorial School 4
- St Winifred’s School 2
