The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools Sports’ (BAISS) Track and Field Championships, which surpassed the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ (BAAA) National Championships in terms of the drama and suspense last year, is back this week at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium and the expectations are just as high this time.

When the three-day meet kicks off tomorrow morning, the St Augustine’s College ‘Big Red Machine’ say they are coming out with vengeance in their eyes to try to regain their title that they relinquished to the Queen’s College Comets last year in one of biggest upsets ever in high school sports.

But not boasting or bragging, Comets’ head coach Everette Fraser said they welcome the challenge that SAC’s coach William ‘Knucklehead’ Johnson has issued. Neither coach or school is taking the championship lightly and that should intensify the competition.

“In meets like these in track and field, you have to get of to a good start and we intend to do that,” said Fraser, whose Queen’s College snapped St Augustine’s College 20-year plus stranglehold on the title. “We are 100 per cent ready to compete. I just hope that the other schools will come out to compete; if not it will come down to another battle between the Comets and the Big Red Machine.”

After last year’s defeat, SAC bounced back less than a month later to dominate the BAAA’s Nationals, the highlight of the school year, with teams from Grand Bahama and the Family Islands in town to participate. Last month, both teams were scheduled to clash in the BAAA’s National High School Relays, but the Big Red Machine did not participate, leaving the Comets to take the early bragging rights.

“We are the defending champions and our athletes are anxious to compete,” Fraser said. “We feel that if we can get of to a good start on the first day, we will be okay. We know we can only get better and better as the meet progresses. If we can take care of our business over the first two days, we will definitely be in a better position to finish it of on the final day.”

The starting gun fires on the meet at 9 am on Wednesday and will continue on Thursday and wrap up on Friday.

Johnson said it was probably the longest year that the Big Red Machine has had to endure after losing the title last year.

“We look good. We have a really good team. We have a solid team and the expectations are high,” Johnson said. “We have some good individual athletes, but overall, it’s a really good team. The kids are prepared. They remember what it was like last year and so it will be every hand on deck.

“We are going to go out there and give it our best. That’s all that we can ask from them. At the end of the day, we will see how it is. But we have a solid team. We have a well rounded team.”

While everybody is looking forward to the showdown between the two power schools, there is expected to be a lot of competition from the St John's Giants, St Anne’s Bluewaves, the St Andrew’s Hurricanes, Kingsway Academy Saints, Nassau Christian Academy Crusaders, Jordan Prince Williams Falcons, Charles W Saunders Cougars, Temple Christian Suns, Aquinas College Aces and Bahamas Academy Stars.

There are eight divisions being contested - bantam, junior, intermediate and senior for girls and boys.

Coming off their historic championship feat, Fraser said the Comets have improved tremendously on the track and in the field events. He is looking for athletes like Samson Colebrooke, Branson Rolle, Edward Kemp, Max Azor, Kaze Poitier, Charisma Taylor, Daejha Moss, Kimona Wilson, Alexis Sawyer, Britini Fountain and Dawayna Pratt to carry their load for the Comets in their quest to successfully defend their title.

“The kids are excited. We are looking forward to competing against SAC,” Fraser said. “I think this is going to be the toughest championships that we will have. I think it’s going to be tougher than last year because we have to find a way to keep SAC from coming back and taking the title from us.”

Johnson said the Big Red Machine will be counteracting with their intermediate girls and boys, junior girls and bantam girls. But he revealed that SAC will be a formidable force in most of the divisions.

“We graduated a lot of seniors last year, especially in the senior girls division, but our girls need to go in there and hold on and keep it as close as they can in that category,” he said. “We know that the other divisions will carry their share of the load. It’s going to be very competitive, but we are ready for the challenge. The intermediate boys will be the core of our team.”

Megan Moss, Demond Dames, Benjamin Clarke, Adrian Curry, Tavante Mott, Danielle Saunders, Devon Whyms, Anthaya Charlton, Donesha Anderson, McKayla and Marissa White, Dachye Stubbs and Serena Brown are among the list of athletes to watch from the Big Red Machine.

“If everybody goes out there and executes and do what they have to do, we will walk away with our head held high because we will perform to the best of our ability,” Johnson said. “So don’t count us out. We are going to fight. We want to get the title back that they took from us last year.”