MALACHI HARRIS ISN’T only big in stature alone. He showed the National Stadium he can deliver some big performances too.
Deacons’ muscularly built star athlete was the class act of the Jim Wedderburn Zone when the final preliminary of the National Primary Schools Athletic Championships (NAPSAC) concluded yesterday.
The ten-year-old Harris smashed two records, while winning all three of his events on his way to capturing the victor ludorum title.
Despite his impressive performance, his school didn’t fare as well, finishing down the pack in both the boys and girls divisions.
While St Giles were all smiles after holding off a stern challenge from Hilda Skeene to successfully defend their boys’ title, Hilda Skeene weren’t so fortunate, with Arthur Smith dethroning the defending champions in the girls division.
St Giles finished on 158 points, Hilda Skeene were second with 137 points, while Roland Edwards (114) and Cost-U-Less Sharon Primary (104) came in third and fourth respectively.
Arthur Smith’s 144 points were eight more than second-placed Bay Primary (132), with Hilda Skeene having to settle for third with 124 points and Roland Edwards (120) fourth.
But the day will be remembered for Harris’ record-breaking feats, where he completely shattered the Under-11 boys’ cricket ball throw along with the 200m records.
His throw of 65.23 metres not only obliterated the old zone record of 49.67m, it also easily surpassed the 51.70m which St Winifred’s Alexander Pilgrim threw to win the Under-13 boys’ event.
However, it fell just short of the NAPSAC record of 67.13m set by Matthew Jones in 2007.
Harris then turned his attention to the 200m, where he lowered the previous mark of 29.09 to 28.65.
He also won the 100m (14.16) to finish the meet with 30 points.
St George Primary’s Sarah Belle was the top female athlete, winning all three of her events to finish with 30 points and the victrix ludorum title.
The Under-13 athlete comfortably won the day’s very first event, the open girls’ 600m, in a time of 1:54.25, the 400m (1:08.33) and the 200m (29.27).
Apart from Harris’ records, five more new marks were also set the day.
The standing broad jump record in the Under-7 boys fell by the wayside with St Gabriel’s Jules O’Garro’s leap of 1.50m, while Tashawn Maloney of St Giles jumped 3.25m to establish a new record in the Under-9 boys’ long jump.
Shelanie Augustin of Cost-U-Lees Sharon Primary set a new record in the Under-9 girls’ cricket ball throw with an effort measured at 28.40m, and Bay Primary’s Rowland Kirton-Browne threw 41.72m to erase the previous mark of 41.12 in the Under-13 girls’ event.
Sharon’s Samiya Dell was responsible for the second track record to fall, her time of 12.54 just under the two-year-old record of 12.67 in the Under-9 girls’ 80m.
