Wall puts a stop to St. Giles’ double reign

Zachary Wall of St. George Primary School set the whole Usain Bolt Sports Complex ablaze when he set three new individual records, was part of a new relay record and helped his school become the 2019 NAPSAC James Wedderburn Zone Boys’ Champions.

Wall dispatched all comers in the Under-11 Boys’ Division for a perfect day at the National Primary Schools’ Athletics Championships. He placed his name in the history books when he strode to gold in record time in the Under-11 Boys’ 100m in 13.92 seconds, taking down Mikail Carvalho’s 13.97 from 2012. Then he removed Javier Norville’s 300m time of 47.96 seconds by running more than 3 seconds faster. His time of 44.88 seconds was blisteringly quick, pushed by Nathan Cumberbatch of St. Giles and Jaquon Blackman-Gittens of Reynold Weekes, who both broke the old record time. Cumberbatch was second with 44.99 seconds and Blackman-Gittens, third in a time of 46.34.

In the 200m, again Wall made sure no one would forget his name by setting the fastest time ever when he crossed the line in 28.21 seconds ahead of Kemar Butler’s 2015, 28.31 record. Then to cap off his day, he was part of the record-breaking Under-11 Boys’ Relay squad for St. George, who replaced the former record with a time of 57.08 set by ironically St. Giles in 2012.

That 30 points accumulated by Wall went a long way as St. George won the crown with 171 points, dethroning St. Giles in the boys. The defending champions did come close to repeating, but fell short into second with 158.50 points. Reynold Weekes Primary was third on 133, Hilda Skeene Primary fourth with 107 and in fifth was Vauxhall Primary on 95 points.

St. Giles Primary successfully defended their Girls’ title in overwhelming fashion with a massive 237 points. Hilda Skeene Primary was next on 153 for second and third position went to Hindsbury Primary with 101 points. Rounding out the top five for the girls were Vauxhall Primary School in fourth on 92 and Bay Primary in fifth on 86 points.

One cannot come to NAPSAC and not hear the Applewaite name called and true to form, Tia Applewaite of St. Giles Primary School took home the Victrix Ludorum crown with 30 points. Winning the Under-13 Girls’ division, Applewaite won gold in the 100m in a time of 13.55 seconds, the 200m in 27.06 and leaped to a record distance of 4.74m in the Long Jump. She surpassed the old record mark of 4.55m set by Tiara Stewart in 2016.

Applewaite shared the title with another female with a top quality performance on the track. Alexis Mascoll of Hindsbury Primary School was unstoppable in the Under-11 Girls’ division with her 30 points earned in the 100m, 200m and 300m. Her clean sweep on the Ryan Brathwaite track came in times of 14.90, 29.76 and 47.55 seconds.

R’Jai Gittens of Reynold Weekes Primary won the Under-13 Boys’ title with 26 points after winning the sprint double of the 100m and 200m and was third in the Cricket Ball Throw. Bay Primary’s Akani Charles was the Under-9 Boys’ champ with 28 points while Jasmine Hurdle of Arthur Smith also had 28 for the Girls’ crown. Dachea Archer helped pull cheers from the stands for Arthur Smith when he won the Under-7 Boys’ division with 26 points. Little Brianna Rollins of Deacons Primary School was the top Under-7 Girl with her total of 12 points.

Nathan Cumberbatch of St. Giles Primary and Jaiko Devonish of Roland Edwards both broke the Under-11 Boys’ Long Jump record. They jumped 4.21m, breaking the 10-year-old 4.19m mark set by Rasaj Thelius in 2009.

Overall Points – James Wedderburn Zone
Girls’ Overall Points
1. St. Giles’ (GIL) 237
2. Hilda Skeene (HSP) 153
3. Hindsbury Primary (HINDS) 101
4. Vauxhall Primary (VPS) 92
5. Bay Primary (BAYP) 86
6. Deacons Primary (DPS) 67
7. Grantley Prescod Memorial (GPMP) 65
8. Roland Edwards Primary (REPS) 58
8. Grazettes Primary (GRAZE) 58
10. Arthur Smith (ART) 53
11. St. George Primary (SGP) 46
12. Reynold Weekes (RWP) 33
12. St. Winifred’s School (SWS) 33
14. St. Mary’s Primary (MARY) 8
15. St. Gabriel’s (SGA) 2

Boys’ Overall Points
1. St. George Primary (SGP) 171
2. St. Giles (GIL) 158.50
3. Reynold Weekes Primary (RWP) 133
4. Hilda Skeene Primary (HSP) 107
5. Vauxhall Primary (VPS) 95
6. Grantley Prescod Memorial (GPMP) 87
7. Bay Primary (BAYP) 86
8. Roland Edwards Primary (REPS) 67
9. Arthur Smith Primary (ART) 66
10. St. Gabriel’s (SGA) 41
11. Deacons Primary (DPS) 32
12. Grazettes Primary (GRAZE) 25
13. St. Winifred’s School (SWS) 12.5
14. St. Mary’s Primary (MARY) 6
15. Sharon Primary (SHAR) 5