The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Scholastic Athletic Association (BSAA) hosted a two-day meet at the original Thomas A Robinson stadium which ended yesterday.

Teleos came out on top of the high school division and Kingsway Academy emerged victorious for the primary schools. Teleos Christian School led all combined scores for another BSAA championship win with 1,097 points after two days of action.

Greenville Prep Academy secured the second place position in the competition with 794 points. Third place belonged to Believers Faith Christian Academy who collected 627 points. This year’s BSAA championships included an under 7, 9, 11 and 13 for the lower schools and the under 15, 17 and 20 divisions for the high schools.

Emerett Taylor, secretary general of BSAA, talked about this year’s track and field championships.

He said this year’s championships had some stiff competition between the schools as the teams really battled hard to see who would be crowned champions.

He added that it’s always good to see the athletes of the smaller schools compete at the championships, especially after seeing five of their athletes compete at the 50th CARIFTA Games.

High School Division

Nevaeh Mackey notched a pair of first place finishes in both the girls 400m and 800m finals. In the 400, she bested her competitors with a time of 1:03.86. For the long distance race, she claimed first place after clocking 2:57.40.

The Teleos athletes were also victorious in the girls’ 4x100m relay finals. Their team crossed the line with 59.49. Believers Faith followed behind with 1:00.50 for second place finish. Third place belonged to Greenville Prep with 1:00.51.

In the girls 4x400m finals, the Cherubims blitzed the competition with a time of 5:15.72. Greenville Prep this time earned second place in the race in 5:30.80. San Pedro International capped off the race in third. Teleos took home first place honours in the boys’ 4x100m relays with 54.05 to narrowly edge out Believers Faith who finished 0.04 seconds behind. Greenville Prep secured third place with 55.00.

Following the momentum of the girls, the Teleos boys’ 4x400m relay finals saw the school nab yet another first place finish.

The team crossed the finish line far before the competition with 4:37.91. Greenville followed behind with 5:00.00. Believers Faith notched third place with 5:20.54.

Lathone Collie, head coach of Teleos, talked about how impressed he was with his team.

“We dominated track for a number of years but it’s good to see the amount of young talent coming out today just to showcase what we can do as a school,” Collie said.

The coach said he was very impressed with his athletes, especially the younger ones that are up and coming.

He added that he is grateful to give back to his alma mater because he did not have the coaching when he attended the school, therefore he is happy to teach them the ins and outs of track and field.

In more under-15 action, the Teleos Cherubims’ Malachi Davis edged out the pair of Believers Faith athletes to finish first in the 200m finals.

The one-two punch of Raven Young and Azaria Anderson finished first and second respectively for the Cherubims. Young clocked 1:11.77 meanwhile, her schoolmate ran 1:18.58 in the 400m finals.

The duo bested Greenville Prep’s Khassidy Campbell for third.

Anderson followed up her 400m win with another, this time in the 800m finals. She outran Greenville Prep’s pair of Jordin Forbes and Khassidy Campbell to finish first in the long distance race. The boys 800m finals belonged to Teleos once again as Dennis Black completed a feat similar to his schoolmate. The under 17 competitor bested the Greenville duo of Jahmar Gibson and Lashawn Wright to take home the victory.The girls 1500m finals only had two registered competitors. Jazmine Bonas of Teleos finished first in 9:15.58 and Jordin Forbes notched 9:30.85 to complete the track event. For the boys, Teleos’ Desir Bien and D Black dominated for first and second place finishes. Greenville’s Tachi Rolle trailed behind the pair to take home third.

The defending champions got a win in the under 17 girls 4x400m relays after defeating their lone competitor Lighthouse Prep. The winning team finished in 6:41.13 and the latter wrapped up in 7:40.58. The boys relay team also brought home the victory in the same event after running 4:12.77.

Teleos were once again dominant but this time in the under 20 division. The school secured wins in the girls 400m, 800m, and 1500m finals courtesy of CARIFTA team member Jazmin Mackey. Additionally, the school collected more first place finishes in the girls and boys 4x400m relays, girls shot put, girls javelin throw, girls and boys high jump, boys 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m finals.

Primary

Faithway and Kingsway Academy exchanged victories on the final day of the two-day BSAA meet in the primary division.

In the under 7 division, Kingsway’s Summer Strachan emerged as the victor with 10.34 in the girls 50m dash. Teleos’ Hanna Brook finished second and Strachan’s fellow schoolmate Amila Munning nabbed third.

For the boys, Kingsway’s Leslie Munning completed the 50m finals in 9 seconds flat. Faithway’s Christian Gibson joined him for second and Kingsway’s Zayne Sands wrapped up with third.

Strachan once again collected another first place win as she finished in 18.17 in the girls 100m finals. She was once again followed by Hanna Brook of Teleos. However, third place this time went to Ry’Anne Jolly of Faithway.

Leslie Munning, similar to Strachan, won the boys’ 100m finals after running 17.29. Faithway’s Frederick Rolle finished behind for second and Greenville’s Carlos Butler came in third.

In the under 9 division, Seth Bowe outran his competitors in the boys 100m finals. The young athlete finished in 16.24. Second place belonged to Ameer Wright of Faithway and third went to San Pedro’s Deno Campbell.

Chase Smith, winner of under 9 200m finals, bested his competitors to bring home the win for Kingsway. Deno Campbell nabbed second for San Pedro meanwhile, David Bien notched third for Teleos.

Kingsway’s Omari Ferguson was crowned the winner after running 1:30.36 in the boys 400m finals. The school also emerged victorious in the mixed 4x75m relay finals after finishing the team race with 56.78. Believers Faith came in second and Teleos followed behind for third.

In the under 11 division, Kingsway claimed victories in the 200m finals, girls 4x100m relays, boys 100m finals, 400m finals, 800m finals, and 4x400m finals on the track.

On the field, the newly-crowned champions won the boys long jump for the under 11 division with Yorick Corroll taking home the win.

In the under 13 division, Kingsway secured first and second place positions in both the girls 100m and 200m finals. Taree Forbes and Charlee Fisher held off San Pedro’s Ameerah Knowles in the 100m finals. The duo of Symiah Strachan and Taree Forbes ran 27.18 and 28.45 to edge out Faithway’s Cheyanne Hepburn.

Kingsway proved their dominance in this division as the collected wins in the girls 800m finals, the girls 4x100m and 4x400m relays, and girls long jump.

This year’s BSAA track and field championships featured eight schools including Teleos Christian School, Greenville Prep Academy, Believers Faith Christian Academy, Kingsway Academy, San Pedro International, Faithway Christian Academy, Lighthouse Prep Academy, and Boost Academy.