The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER reeling off their 25th straight Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ track and field championship title, the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine is looking forward to making its presence felt at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ Scotiabank National High School Championships.

The Big Red Machine will be leading the charge at the championships set for Friday and Saturday at the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium. The meet is expected to bring together a host of schools from throughout the Bahamas.

Both the winning senior boys and girls 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 metre relay teams will be awarded a trip to compete in the prestigious Penn Relay Festival to be held next week in Philadelphia.

“We expect to go there and we’re just asking these kids to go there and give 110 per cent,” said SAC’s head coach William “Knucklehead” Johnson. “We have a good team. We have a deep team. We have some injuries or some people coming off injuries, but most of them will be ready to go.”

With more than 100 athletes expected to take the ride in the Big Red Machine to the championship, Johnson said they are looking for their under-17 boys and senior girls’ divisions to be the cream of the crop.

“We have Kinard Rolle and the guys in the field events should do very well,” Johnson said. “We believe a lot of our points will be scored on the field. But that is not to say we won’t have our share of excitement on the track. We will do well on the track as well.

“We have an under-17 boy, Justin Pinder, in the 800, who will run a 1:51. He’s ready. He didn’t make the CARIFTA team. He sat and watched and that motivated him to work harder. We feel he’s going to go out there and do exceptionally well, as will all of our distance runners.”

In the under-20 girls” division, Williams said BTC Carifta Games’ under-20 girls 100 metre gold medallist Devynne Charlton will lead the pack, but they will have a surprise for their rivals.

“She won’t run the 100. She will run the 100 hurdles and the 400 to see what she can do in that particular event,” Williams noted. “She has no fear of competition. She’s going to do very well.

“And we have a 12-year-old junior in Doneisha Anderson, bronze medallist at the CARIFTA Games, will lead that category. You never know what to expect from her. She may be one of the most talented athletes this country has seen in years.”

Anderson stunned the crowd when she anchored the Bahamas’ under-17 girls 4 x 100 relay team to the bronze medal.

Williams said while they know all eyes will be on the Big Red Machine, they are not thinking that they can just roll past the rest of the schools competing.

“Everyone will have someone who can score here and there, so points will be tough to come back,” he said. “You have the best out of the country coming forward, but we are looking forward to the challenge.”