The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE CR Walker Knights, now coached by Ednal Rolle, have emerged as the early leaders of the senior high segment of the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association’s (GSSSA) 23rd Track and Field Championships.

After day one of the two-day meet at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, the Knights have surged 47 points ahead of the CI Gibson Rattlers. The two-time defending champions CV Bethel Stingrays, also with a coaching change, have dropped to third place.

The Knights, whose girls have been shining so far, are leading the eight-team field with 304.5 points with the Rattlers accumulating 257.5 on the strength of their boys, while the Stingrays have 238.5.

Rolle, who came from Exuma to replace long-time head coach Floyd Armbrister, said they are right where they want to be going into today’s final day of competition - in front.

“I told them that we need to be in the lead after the first day so we can get a jump start on everybody and take the pressure of us,” Rolle said. “They have to now chase us. But surprisingly, CI Gibson is doing very well. They have moved into second place. I told them that we can’t take any team for granted.

“Everybody is just worrying about CV because they are the two-time defending champions, and all respect goes out to them. But there are other schools coming up, which is actually good for the competition. It won’t just be CV Bethel and CR Walker, but now you have CI Gibson and even Doris Johnson and CC Sweeting are right there.”

Having transferred from LN Coakley High in Exuma at the beginning of the school year, Rolle said Armbrister, who is preparing for a promotion as a Senior Master at CR Walker, has left a base for the coaching staff to work with in terms of regaining their title. They are on the road to accomplishing that feat.

“I don’t know how he handled all of the administration work that he had to do and deal with the track team because that in itself is a lot of work,” Rolle said. “To build a team requires a lot of work, time and energy. There’s a lot of sacrifices that you have to make, but the school has accepted me as one of their own, even though I miss my Exuma family.

“It’s so sad that I had to leave them and come back to Nassau, but I’m happy that I’m now at CR Walker and we are looking forward to winning the championship title back this year. We just have to remain focused and work on the things that got us the lead on day one.”

More than half of CR Walker’s lead could be attributed to their girls, who lead that category with 185.5 points, 77 points ahead of CI Gibson. CV Bethel are third with 105.5.

The Rattlers are out front in the boys events, with 149 points, followed by the Stingrays (133) and the Knights (119).