BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH just days before the start of the TDC Inter-School Championships, SKNVibes Sports has chosen to highlight athletes from Basseterre High School (BHS) as the first in a series of articles.
In an interview with SKNVibes Sports, BHS’ coach Lester Morris spoke about some of the top athletes from that learning institution.
“There is no secret; I think everybody knows what we have. I could talk about Karissa Eddy in the U-18, there is Akeem Chumney and Olujede Bridgewater. There is Tiwana Robinson, Georgia Spencer, Shenala Mitchum and Shavane Boston.
“We have four athletes who have already qualified for CARIFTA and there is a good mix in between. So we are hopefully going to come out and do our best.”
While attending the BHS Sports Day, this publication witnessed a number of championship performances with Shenela Mitchum being the standout performer at the school’s showpiece sporting event.
The Orange House Mitchum seemed like a super athlete to the amazement of the many spectators who were in awe of her performance, as she participated in every event in which she was eligible to compete and won them all.
She started the day winning the 800m then went on to win the 200m. Following those triumphs, she won the 400m and 1500m. Then to everyone’s surprise, she came back and won the 100m and later that evening played an integral role in Orange House’s triumph in the 4x100m and 4x400m Relays.
Olujede Bridgewater dominated the Junior Girls 200m before suffering an injury which ended her participation at the event.
Morris further disclosed how preparation is progressing for the largest track and field competition on the local sports calendar.
“Preparation is going pretty good. Today (Mar. 25) is basically the penultimate session and we have one final session tomorrow. We are just going through our paces and different athletes are practicing their strongest events. We are hoping that at the end of the day we will know who are participating in what on the weekend.”
He went on to identify some of the school’s strengths.
“To be honest, we have a good mix in Under-16, Under-18 and Under-14. We have a good crop of athletes but there is not anyone right now that stands out. We have persons individually who can give us three gold medals. We are poised to do well over the weekend and we are definitely going to come and give it our best. At the end of it, we are hoping that Basseterre High will be victorious.”
Morris also spoke of his confidence in being victorious at the championships.
“As a coach, I have learnt that you do not go in anything expecting to lose. And so as the coach, my preparation has told me we are definitely looking to win. We are settling for nothing less! In the end, all I am asking my athletes for it to go out there and give it the best and whatever happens we will be grateful.
“I also want to tip my hat to the other schools. I think without them there would not be any competition. I am asking them to come out and bring their best as well and, at the end, may the best school wins.”
After just missing out on success at the TDC Inter-School Championships last year, the BHS will be looking to upstage the defending champions, Washington Archibald High School, at this weekend’s championships.
