By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE CR Walker Knights celebrated their seventh straight Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) Track and Field win in the senior division on Friday at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

The Knights joined the CH Reeves Raptors, who won their fourth straight championship last Thursday, as the newly-crowned champions of track and field.

After trailing by a slim margin on day one of competition, the Knights managed to run away with a total of 567 points for first place in the overall standings.

The CV Bethel Stingrays were 31 points behind with their total of 536 points for second position. The RM Bailey Pacers locked up the third place trophy with 369 points.

Aikia Rose, head coach of the Knights, credited hard work for the success the senior school experienced for the seventh consecutive year.

“We worked hard and tried to practice as much as we could and we tried to get them mentally prepared for this track meet. If it wasn’t for God we wouldn’t have been here today. I am so happy for the kids, it was a really good day and they really did well,” coach Rose said.

She acknowledged the close race for first between her school and the Stingrays but gave praises to God for helping them to pull off the win.

“I want to thank God for the victory because without Him we wouldn’t have made it because we had a little bump here and there but through God we got it done and it feels really good to be up on top again,” she said.

The Knights had the most points in the U17 male division with 167 points. The Stingrays secured second with 118 points and the Pacers paced themselves for 114 points. CR Walker also took two second place fin- ishes in the female U17 and U20 divisions with scores of 156 and 155 respectively.

Both the Knights and Stingrays dominated on the final day of competition but it was the Knights who would prevail.

In the individual events, CR Walker hauled away victories in the U17 girls and boys 200m finals, the U17 boys and U20 girls 3000m events.

Brey’elle Cooper gave the Knights bragging rights in the U17 girls 200m finals. She crossed the line in first place with a time of 25.34 seconds.

Synia Lockhart, who was awarded top female performer in the U17 division, came second for the Sting- rays in 26.38 seconds. Her teammate Teavia Wright finished in 27.21 seconds.

For the boys, Johnathan Higgs performed the best clocking 22.59 seconds.

Russell. She ended the race with a time of 14:18.06. The Government High School’s Sirtaria Mackey came second and CV Bethel’s Marquell Hall settled for the third spot.

Gabriel Johnson made the Knights look good in the U17 boys 3000m finals. He bested competitors with a time of 10:27.44. Crossing the line behind him was teammate Brian Burrows who clocked 11:32.56. CI Gibson’s Sergio Bain wrapped up third in 11:37.92.

Johnson and Burrows were also in the top three of the U17 boys 800m finals on day three. The former placed first in 2:13.10 and the latter finished behind CV Bethel’s Jaydian Lewis for the third podium spot.

The quartet of Cooper, basketball player Shamarajah Cummings, Jasmine Bain and Dahija Mesidor got the job done in the U17 girls 4x400m relay event. Collectively, they notched a time of 4:28.93. CV Bethel got second place and CI Gibson took third.

Sidney Corneille, of CR Walker, mailed in a jump of 1.74m for the U17 boys high jump event.

As for the Stingrays, they did not go down without a fight. They emerged victorious in the U17 boys and U20 girls 4x400m relays.

Additionally, Lockhart not only won the U17 girls 400m hurdles but also set a GSSSA meet record in the event.

She clocked 1:11.69 to pace the way and take down the former record of 1:13.67 set by Angel Butler in 2017.

Andrew Rolle helped CV Bethel to make it two for two with his win in the boys’ event in 1:03.59.

Marquell Newbold, the highest point earner in the U20 girls division, grabbed a victory in the U20 girls 400m hurdles in 1:12.08.

Tahj Brown, representing RM Bailey, amassed the most points in the male U20 division and was success- ful in the 200m finals and 400mH.

The Raptors and Knights are the reigning champions for the junior and senior division of the 2024 GSSSA Track and Field Championships.