NAPSAC 2018 under way

IT was a rocky start to the National Primary Schools’ Athletics Championships 2018, but St. Catherine’s Primary and St. Ambrose Primary paid no mind and took the Obadele Thompson Zonal crowns.

Starting almost an hour behind schedule, mainly due to the late arrival of schools to the Usain Bolt Sports Complex, this year’s first zonal meet had a challenging start to say the least. The story of the day however was a double shot for St. Ambrose Primary and St. Catherine’s Primary as the two schools successfully defended their titles on a day mixed with heat and scattered showers. St. Ambrose won the Boys’ title with 153 points and St. Catherine’s took the Girls’ crown with 203 points.

Behind St. Ambrose was Trinity Academy with an inspiring second-place effort with 127 points and in third was St. Catherine’s on 113 points. Elliott Belgrave (formerly Boscobelle) Primary took fourth with 108 points and rounding out the top five in the Boys’ category was St. Margaret’s Primary with 89 points. Second place in the Girls’ category was St. Bernard’s Primary on 173 points, while with 114 points St. James Primary was third, Trinity Academy was fourth with 111 points and in fifth with 84 points was Workman’s Primary.

The Victrix Ludorum for the Obadele Thompson Zonal meet was Alexis Carter of Workman’s Primary with 30 points. She won gold in the Under-9 Girls’ 80m in 12.97 seconds, the 100m with a time of 16.18 seconds and crossed the line in first place in the 150m in 24.91 seconds. The Victor Ludorum honours had to be shared between three male athletes – Under-13 Boy Koen Blackman of Trinity Academy, Ryon Stuart of St. Philip’s Primary School and Josiah Williamson of St. Ambrose Primary.

Blackman claimed gold in the Under-13 100m and 200m in 13.70 seconds and 28.30 respectively and the bronze in the Cricket Ball Throw. Stuart won the Under-11 200m in 29.65 seconds and placed second in the 100m and Long Jump events. For Williamson, his path to 26 points was via a gold in the Under-9 100m with a time of 15.63 seconds and silver in the 80m and 150m sprints.

Samuel Edwards of St. James Primary broke the Under-9 80m record of 12.55 with 12.22 seconds. Two records were broken in the Cricket Ball Throw with Wenai Steele-Inniss competing for St. Catherine’s breaking the Under-11 Girls’ record of 32.70 metres with a throw of 33.15m. The other record was in the Under-13 Boys where Jacobe Griffith of St. Philip’s Primary smashed the previous mark of 57.49m with his effort of 62.43m. St. Catherine’s Jamarion Mapp was the last individual record breaker when he broke the Under-13 Boys’ 400m time of 1:08.27 after he stopped the clock at 1:06.27 minutes. (AS)

Male Team Scores
1. St. Ambrose Primary – 153
2. Trinity Academy – 127
3. St. Catherine’s Primary School – 113
4. Elliott Belgrave Primary – 108
5. St. Margaret’s Primary – 89
6. St. James Primary – 84
7. St. Philip’s Primary – 83
8. Workman’s Primary – 67
9. St. Bernard’s Primary – 56
10. St. Mark’s Primary – 47

Female Team Scores
1. St. Catherine’s Primary – 203
2. St. Bernard’s Primary – 173
3. St. James Primary – 114
4. Trinity Academy – 111
5. Workman’s Primary – 84
6. Elliott Belgrave Primary – 84
7. St. Mark’s Primary – 63
8. St. Ambrose Primary – 63
9. Half Moon Fort Primary – 49
10. St. Philip’s Primary – 43