By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

One of the most long-standing rivalries in Bahamian sporting history was reignited on day one of the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) Track and Field Championships at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

The powerhouse schools were out in full force on the track and field. The St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine currently holds a slim lead over the Queen’s College Comets with a total of 405.50. Trailing by less than 10 points are the Comets with a score of 396. The Temple Christian School Suns are comfortably in third with a total of 161 points.

SAC’s head coach Jason Edwards acknowledged that they made some errors on day one but they have to embrace the “next man up” mentality.

“It was a gutsy performance. We had a few errors that we should have capitalised on. We kind of missed the mark there but it happens. Every meet someone has to pull up their pants, someone else gotta step in and next man up, that is the mentality we have,” the coach said.

He is looking forward to the day two performances of the athletes, particularly in the field events.

“Today is more of a field day so we gotta focus and, in those technical events, we tend to do pretty good,” he said.

Coach Edwards added that he is not surprised at the closeness of the score in the race between SAC and QC for the BAISS track and field championship and bragging rights.

This year’s meet brought out some CARIFTA-qualifying performances on and off the track.

Darvinique Dean, representing SAC, qualified once again in the under-17 girls’ 100m hurdles. She ran a time of 14.19 seconds, well under the CARIFTA qualifying time of 14.89 seconds for first place. Additionally, she lowered the former meet record of 14.22 seconds achieved by Tess Mullings in 2007.

Kennedy Hanna, of St Anne’s, placed second in 15.10 seconds and Queen’s College’s Kei-Mahri Hanna crossed the line third.

Jahcario Wilson, who attends SAC, got the school a first-place finish in the under-17 boys’ 110m hurdles. He stopped the clock at 14.41 seconds which was under the qualification mark of 15.65 seconds. Rohman Rolle, of Queen’s College, finished second and also dipped under the qualifying standard with his time of 15.51 seconds.

Kersch Mackey got the third spot for the Big Red Machine in 16.06 seconds.

Taysha Stubbs, representing QC, broke NCAA javelin champion Rhema Otabor’s previous meet record of 39.44 metres with her heave of 44.26m on day one. She repeated as a CARIFTA qualifier, surpassing the standard of 40.10m. The top three performers in the under-17 boys’ triple jump made the CARIFTA qualifying standard. The Comets’ Davon Davis once again qualified in the event with a leap of 13.70m. SAC’s Carlin Archer notched 13.69m for second and her teammate Terrin Beckles soared to 13.16m for third.

QC’s Ahkheel Williams bested CARIFTA under-17 boys’ javelin throw standard of 44.95m with his throwing distance of 44.98m in the U15 boys event. The mark was also a new BAISS meet record. Pete Smith owned the previous record of 44.87m achieved in 2004.

ON THE TRACK

The Big Red Machine ran away with victories in the U17 girls and boys 400m finals, U13 boys and girls 1,500m, U20 girls 100m and U20 boys 110m hurdles events.

Bayli Major and Tamia Edwards took the first and second positions for SAC in the U20 girls’ 100m hurdles. The former notched 15.09 seconds and her teammate ran 15.86 seconds. QC’s Kennise Major trailed the pair of SACers for third.

The Big Red Machine had the top two performers in the U20 boys’ 110m hurdles. Jehiel Smikle and Rondino Dean placed first and second with times of 14.61 seconds and 14.96 seconds respectively. Kenny Moxey crossed the line at 15.72 seconds in third.

Alexis Roberts and Eagan Neely finished atop the U17 boys and girls 400m finals. Roberts led the girls with a time of 56.48 seconds and Neely led the boys with 49.52 seconds.

Dontae Culmer and Shimoi Bain emerged vic- torious in the U13 boys’ and girls’ 1,500m finals respectively.

As for the Comets, they collected wins in the U17 and U20 girls’ 1,500m, U13 and U20 boys 400m and the U15 boys 80m hurdles.

Comets head coach Everette Fraser said the school had some letdowns on day one but are very optimistic moving into day two. “It was good. We had some surprises, we had some letdowns but that’s competition. We had some downfalls in certain areas but it is what it is, we just gotta execute and fight for it. We are gonna be ready, we have to fight for it, we cannot just let them take it away from us. Anytime we have a position we have to keep it, even if it’s seventh we have to keep it and fight for it,” Fraser said.

He is looking forward to some winning performances in the 100m sprints today.

“I just gotta tell the kids coming into day two we look good, we are close. I expected to be up on top but things do happen, but tomorrow we look good going into the 100s. We still have some distance races to run tomorrow which I feel confident in. If everybody executes, hopefully it will be a different score tomorrow afternoon after the competition. Hopefully we are ahead, that is the plan,” he said.

ON THE FIELD

The Comets were strong in the field events yesterday. They won a total of seven field events.

CARIFTA double medallist Jamiah Nabbie gave the Comets the advantage in the U20 girls’ high jump. She notched 1.50m for the win. Breyniece Kemp and Kaechan Munroe came second and third for TCS.

Tarjahnaye Green had a winning performance in the U15 girls’ discus throw with a distance of 27.51m for QC.

Keely Deveaux and J’Kaiya Rolle got the job done for QC in the U17 girls’ long jump with first and second-place finishes. SAC’s Roberts came third.

The BAISS Track and Field Championships continue today at 9am.