The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It’s not how you start, nor how you get there. Most importantly, it’s how you finish.

• The Finish Line, a weekly column, seeks to comment on the state of affairs in the local sports scene, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

The Week That Was

So the CR Walker Knights are back on top of the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association track and field chart. Under first year coach Ednal Rolle, they regained the championship title that they relinquished to the CV Bethel Stingrays two years ago.

What a remarkable turnaround for the Knights.

Like CR Walker, CV Bethel also came out with a new coach as Rupert Gardiner was seconded to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture for the formation of the National Sports Academy and he was replaced by Kevin Edgecombe. The Stingrays finished all the way in third place with 486.50 points.

Leading from day one of the two-day meet at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium last week, the Knights accumulated a total of 590.50 points, 70 points ahead of the CI Gibson Rattlers, who clinched the second spot with 520.50. Their victory came after the CH Reeves Raptors won the junior high title for the 10th consecutive year.

The Raptors also have a new coach in Rashad McKenzie, who replaced the retired Leona Cornish.

So although there has been some movement in the coaching ranks at both the junior and high school levels, it seems as if the two championship schools had enough of their base in place in order to be able to come out successfully at the end of the championships.

The championships turned out to be a very competitive one and there were a number of bright spots on the track and in the field events. But for the most part, whenever you have a team winning the title, they almost always have some dominating athletes and this was the case with CR Walker.

So congratulations to Rolle and his entire coaching staff at CR Walker for a job well done.

BAAA NATIONALS

Now the focus of attention will switch to the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations National High School Track and Field Championships. The event will be held in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

No confirmation has been given yet, but it’s understood that the championships will be held in Grand Bahama April 13-15.

At a recent press conference held by the newly elected officers of the BAAA, president Rosamunde Carey would only say that athletes will have to be qualified in order to make the trip to Grand Bahama.

While the New Providence and Grand Bahama schools should have the majority of the athletes participating, how does this requirement work out for the Family Islands, considering that many of the schools don’t have the opportunity to compete in as many meets.

I think the decision to take only qualifiers is a good idea because you are not only looking at a cost factor, but it will provide for a more competitive meet. There were some events in both the junior and senior meets where some of the performances were like night and day. But you can understand that some of those athletes were just put in those events so that they can secure some points for their respective schools. At the nationals, you should be looking at the cream of the crop. So expect every event to be keenly contested.

WORLD INDOORS

With this being an Olympic year, it seems as if the majority of the Bahamian athletes are focusing more on the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, rather than the IAAF World Indoor Championships next month in TrackTown USA in Oregon, Portland.

The BAAA has named its initial team with the view of adding a few more athletes if they qualify by the March 6 deadline. While the team will only have one competitor in Tynia Gaither, who will run the 60m, there is a strong emphasis on the men’s 4 x 400 m relay team.

In Poland at the last World Indoors in 2014, the Bahamas team of Ramon Miller, Michael Mathieu, Andretti Bain and LaToy Williams ran 3:09.79 for fourth place in their heat, but they failed to advance to the final. All eyes will be focused on how well they perform this time.

Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown, who sat out the heat waiting on the team to qualify in Poland after he won a silver in the 400m, has opted not to compete in the 400m this time around as he focuses on trying to get the Bahamas to win an elusive relay medal at the World Indoors.

So far, it appears as if he will be joined by Mathieu, Williams, Alonzo Russell, Shavez Hart and Ashley Riley. Not a bad combination, but we all have to remember that the indoor relays is more compacted than outdoors because of the 200m track, so there is no room for mistakes.

The team found that out the hard way in Poland in 2014. Let’s hope they are even more prepared for the challenge this year.

CARIFTA SWIM

THREE-PEAT

The Bahamas Swimming Federation feels they have assembled a 36-member team that should go to Martinique next month and return home with their third straight CARIFTA Swimming Championships.

The federation should be commended for not only the team, but the coaching staff selected. They have combined some of the best young coaches in Allan Murray, Sara Knowles from Abaco and Travano McPhee to head the swim team. Andy Loveitt, the elder statesman, will be joined by Mancer Roberts Jr for the open water team.

When you look at the list of swimmers selected, the federation seems headed in the right direction and so there’s no reason why they can’t do it again.

The good thing about this team of swimmers, as was the case with the past two victorious teams, is the fact that all of the swimmers have attained the qualifying standards and there’s no reason for the federation to add any competitors who didn’t. In fact, there were some cases in the age groups where they had to leave some of the qualifiers at home because of the cost on the team.

Again, that speaks volumes for the federation, headed by Algernon Cargill. They are certainly heading in the right direction and should be commended for the manner in which they have kept their programme intact without any major disruptions.

THE WEEK AHEAD

It’s so good to see all eight schools from Grand Bahama in town to participate in the prestigious Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic that is being played at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

But it would be even better when the championship game is played at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium on Monday night. We could see a showdown between a team from Grand Bahama and New Providence. Too many times we have been denied the opportunity to really see the best teams compete for all the marbles.

That’s one of the reasons why the Grand Bahama teams pulled out last year.

Now that they’re back, may the best two teams truly show up on the court in the grand finale on Monday night.