BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BY the end of last night’s (Mar. 20) second day of the TDC/Coca-Cola/LIME Interschool Championships the medal table had to be counted multiple times, but it has been confirmed that the Verchilds High School (VHS) leads reigning champion Sandy Point High School (SPHS) by a single silver medal.
St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Athletics Association Public Relations Officer Evris Huggins confirmed this morning (Mar. 21) that both leading schools have 11 gold medals and that VHS’ narrow lead comes from one silver medal after top events such as the 200m, 800m and 4x100m were completed yesterday.
The schools are also close in the bronze medal count, with SPHS leading by one bronze according to SKNVibes’ unofficial count.
VHS was led in their medal haul by Carifta-qualified Lonzo Wilkinson Jr. in the U-16 Boys categories, who won gold in the Discus with the throw of 35.34m, Triple Jump with a leap of 12.19m and 200m with a time of 23.25sec.
Wilkinson’s fourth gold of the day was in the Shot Put with a throw of 14.22m. While it wasn’t enough to obtain the elusive A qualifying standard for Carifta, the toss was more than enough to break the Interschool record set by SPHS’s Devon Farrell (13.96m) in 2004.
Another key medal for VHS came in the Girls Open 3000m. Cayon High School’s Shekola Wilson was heavily favoured to win the event and held the lead for almost the entire race, but VHS’ Victrix Lodorum Rosalie Pringle paced herself masterfully and held her stride until the final lap when she pushed the gassed Wilson in the final 100m to win by 0.36sec with a time of 12:14.13.
SPHS, meanwhile, consistently medaled throughout the day. Vanessa Bennette and Queneala Bradshaw started the day off for the reigning champs by taking gold and silver in the first event of the day, the Girls U-19 Long Jump.
The one-two performance was repeated shortly after in the Girls U-14 High Jump thanks to Louvique Carter and Nordia Alford and placed SPHS in good position to take the lead.
The top teams went back and forth across the hurdle events, 800m and 200m to keep things close as they went into the day-ending 4x100m events.
Basseterre High School, Washington Archibald High School (WAHS) and Charlestown Secondary School meanwhile are occupied in a close battle for third place, as each school has five gold medals and is respectively only separated by one silver medal each.
The large crowd at the Silver Jubilee Anniversary Stadium also witnessed Interschool record-setting performances from BHS’ Wasim Howe in the Boys U-14 800m, Pringle in the Girls U-19 800m, Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College’s Kadeem Smith in the Boys U-19 800m and the Cayon High School in the U-14 Boys 4x100m relay.
The Cayon team, comprised of Aldeano McSheene, Dajour Richards, Raheem Berry and Kivaun Isaac, ran a time of 47.98sec, broke WAHS’ record of 48.99 from 2009 and showed that the youth team at the school is one to be watched in upcoming years.
The tense race will culminate today beginning at 2 p.m. with the Long Jump, High Jump and Shot Put finals before the much-anticipated 100m, 400m, 1500m and 4x400m events.
The question on all track and field enthusiasts’ minds remains whether SPHS will be able to take the lead and retain their championship or if VHS can extend the gap and become the 2010 champion school.
