By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The St Augustine’s College (SAC) Big Red Machine kept rolling at the 2024 National High School Track and Field Championships where they claimed six out of eight division victories on Sunday evening at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

Additionally, SAC had three relay teams book their trips to the 2024 Penn Relays set for April 25-27 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The CH Reeves Raptors and Tabernacle Baptist Academy Falcons also left the nationals with one divisional trophy apiece.

Division Scores

SAC secured division wins in the under-15 divisions (male and female), under-17 divisions (male and female) and under-20 divisions (male and female). The Raptors earned bragging rights in the female under-13 division and the Falcons emerged as victors in the under-13 male division over the weekend.

The Big Red Machine left the field behind in the under-20 divisions. They won the female portion with a total of 158 points. The Queen’s College Comets trailed behind with 95 points and Grand Bahama’s Bishop Michael Eldon School totalled 67 points.

In the male age group, SAC bested the competitors for a total 103 points. The Queen’s College Comets amassed 92 points and CI Gibson Senior High scored 62 points at the four-day meet.

St Augustine’s led the female under-17 division with 182.33 points. The Comets settled for second with 131 points and the Temple Christian School Suns came third in the overall scores with 115.17 points.

In the male division, SAC had the final say. They prevailed with a total of 155 points. Tabernacle Baptist Academy finished in second with 102 points. QC came away with 95 points.

SAC wrapped up first in the under-15 female division. The 2024 BAISS Track and Field champions concluded with 142 points. QC was in the second spot with a total of 116.50 points and Bishop Michael Eldon School fell to third with 64 points.

The Big Red Machine were atop the under-15 male division with 134 points. The QC Comets ended the division with a total of 119 points. The Raptors took home the third spot with 70 points.

SAC head coach Jason Edwards was proud of his athletes’ performances.

“I think the kids did an exceptional job considering we had BAISS, CARIFTA Trials and then CARIFTA Games. The kids performed up to their ability and they dug deep for this one and I am proud of them,” Edwards said.

He credited the SAC culture for athletes pulling out gutsy victories down the stretch.

“It was a bit difficult trying to get them revved up again. If you watched the meet you can tell a lot of kids were a little tired but we tend to push a little harder at SAC. It is a part of our culture and it is something we do,” he said.

The 2024 GSSSA Track and Field champions got the job done in the under-13 female division. The Raptors were the division leaders with 102 points. The Suns placed second with 78 points and SAC came third with 64 points.

Varel Davis, president of the GSSSA and head coach at CH Reeves, was impressed with the determination her athletes displayed.

“The hope was to do well in all of the divisions but I am happy that we won the overall bantam division at the high school nationals. I am very proud of them despite the very little time we had to come back and train. They did extremely well, if you look at all the divisions you will see CH Reeves in the top 10 in the country. For a little school that is grades 7-9 that speaks to the programme at CH Reeves and I think we represented all the government schools at this national meet,” the head coach said.

The Falcons narrowly overcame the Raptors in the under-13 male division. They created a seven-point margin with a total of 111 points for the division victory. The Raptors were behind with 104 points and the Suns rounded up 66 points at the meet. The schools from New Providence and Grand Bahama evenly split the six individual awards for the event.

CARIFTA silver medallist Annae Mackey was honoured as the most outstanding female field event athlete. Grand Bahama native and CARIFTA double gold medallist Joshua Williams was named the most outstanding male field event athlete.

Breyniece Kemp, representing Temple Christian School, was awarded as the most outstanding female track athlete and her schoolmate L’Qwon Sands got the most outstanding male track athlete award.

CARIFTA silver medallist Keyezra Thomas was the event’s most outstanding female athlete and Avonte Lotmore, representing Tabernacle Baptist Academy, was the most outstanding male athlete.

National Records

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture provided incentives to under-20 relay teams competing in the 4x100m and 4x400m events. The top teams were awarded a trip to the Penn Relays. The Big Red Machine had three relay teams make the mark.

The relay team of Zaria Stapleton, Bayli Major, Nya Wright and Alexis Roberts booked their spot at the Penn Relays in 46.96 seconds in the under-20 girls’ 4x100m finals. The Queen’s College quartet of Brion Ward, Jamiah Nabbie, K’Leigh Davis and Sarsha Wright clocked 47.33 seconds for second. Tabernacle Baptist Academy ended the event in the bronze medal position.

Darvinique Dean, Roberts, Daveigh Farrington and Wright got the job done in the under-20 girls’ 4x400m relay, winning the event with a time of 3:48.99. Bishop Michael Eldon’s Thomas, Rizpah Thompson, Aaliyah Evans and Phebe Thompson settled for second in 3:50.52. QC finished the race in 3:54.18.

Shavano Nixon, Jahcario Wilson, Morgan Moss and Eagan Neely worked together and finished in 3:18.59 in the under-20 boys’ 4x400m finals. Tabernacle Baptist Academy’s Zaiah Henfield, Aiden Kelly, Williams and Levaughin Parker collectively ran a time of 3:19.80. Sunland Baptist Academy closed out the event in third.

The Comets’ team of Ishmael Rolle, Everette Fraser, Zion Davis and Johnathan Harris ran a swift time of 41.61 seconds in the under-20 boys’ 4x100m event. SAC came second and the Falcons trailed for third.

Athletes continued to break national high school records on day four. On the final day, two teams set new records in the relay events.

Grand Bahama’s quartet of Lavero McIntosh, Lotmore, Deondre Goodman and Dakari Forbes eliminated the previous record of 52.65 seconds set by St John’s College in 2019 in the under-13 boys’ 4x100m event. They replaced it with a new time of 52.27 seconds which also earned the team a first place finish.

The Raptors’ four-member team of Matthew Derius, Kendal Garcia, Arphaxed Thompson and Rhamello Bethel clocked 57.25 seconds for second. The Patrick J Bethel School finished in third with 58.53 seconds.

The St John’s College Giants were dominant in the under-15 boys’ 4x400m relay event. The relay team of Neko Seymour, Aiden Musgrove, Anthony Saunders and Cordell Munroe set a new record of 3:40.51 on the track. The former record of 3:41.07 was set by Bishop Michael Eldon School in 2011. SAC wrapped up second in 3:51.15 and QC got the third podium spot with a time of 3:54.02.

For additional meet results visit www.tekresults.net.

Next up for track is the 2024 Penn Relays scheduled for April 25-27 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.