Gill House romped to victory with 387 points to win the Carmen Rene Memorial School (CRMS) sports meet on Thursday, well ahead of Rene on 268. In third was Lewis, just beating Walcott out 255-252 at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, the first meet this season at that venue.
Makayla Hyacinthe of Rene House was fantastic in the Under-13 girls. Disappointed that she was not able to fully showcase her ability at this meet last year, she dominated with wins in the 150m (22.9), 300m (52.5), and 600m (2:14.9). Walcott’s Raheem Elibox took gold in the 80m with 11.7, and the 150m with a time of 21.8.
Gill star J’ada Adjodha won the Under-11 girls 80m in 12.7 and 150m in 24.41, and was second in the 300m in 1:01.6. Representing Rene, Traysean Jn Baptiste captured gold in the Under-11 boys 150m in 22.6 and 300m in 57.5, and was third in the 80m in 12.4.
Maeav Gabriel of Lewis finished first in the Under-9 girls 60m and 150m, clocking 10.2 and 25.7. Gill’s Jaelan Howell and Rene’s Jaelan Wilson won the 60m (9.5) and 150m (23.7), respectively.
Gill House won the 4x100m Under-13 boys, whilst Rene won the girls. Gill got the 4x1500m Under-11 girls and boys. Anchored by Hyacinthe, Gill came from behind to top the podium in the girls’ 4×300. Their boys did the trick as well.
Gill won the 4x75m Under-11 girls, but Rene won the boys. Lewis won the Under-9 girls, and Gill the boys.
CRMS principal Cyiana Norley-George said that the support of the District 2 education office was crucial to the success of the day’s activities.
“The students have really come out, and the competition has been really good, really friendly rivalry between the houses,” she shared. “And so we are very, very happy so far with the progress of our students’ development.
“It was quite a task to organise. Our planning committee, sports committee came together with the physical education teachers to put everything together. But a good thing about it is that our district applied for the sports meet as a group. And so I think in the end that part of it was not too bad, because the various agencies – Red Cross. ECCO, Solid Waste Management – all of that was done more or less as a district and so it kind of helped reduce the burden of getting things done,” she added.
The meet was attended by representatives from the St Lucia Athletics Association and the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports. The principal told St Lucia Times that the school, whose motto is ‘pray hard, work hard, play hard,’ has a special love for sports, an area in which several students excelled later in life.
“It is critical,” she insisted. “Many of our students have gone on to secondary school where they’re doing very well in athletics and other sporting events. And even this morning, I encouraged my students, because today I’m wearing my Julien Alfred t-shirt, more or less to just share with them the fact that according to Julien Alfred, she had a dream, a big dream. She worked hard, she persevered, and she did well. So we’re hoping with that kind of encouragement and inspiration that our students will go out there and will shine.”