Mount Alvernia secure girls title at Western Champs - STETHS retain boys’ crown

NEW champions were crowned among the females at last Saturday's County of Cornwall Athletics Association's Western Athletics Championships, which was held at G.C. Foster College of Sports and Physical Education, as Mt Alvernia High dethroned defending champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS).

STETHS, meanwhile, retained the boys' crown.

Mt Alvernia's girls ended on 327 points, while STETHS had to settle for second with 272. They were followed in the top five by William Knibb (156), Lacovia (114) and Sydney Pagon (107).

It was easy going for STETHS among the boys as they amassed 435 points. Runners-up William Knibb were some distance away in second with 322 points, with Munro (320), Herbert Morrison Technical (149) and Cornwall College (147) closing out the top five.

It was a mixed feeling for Neil Harrison, technical director of STETHS, following the final results.

"Happy for the win among the boys, but I thought it would have been more challenging as we never expected to win that easily. It showed that we had more depth than the other teams, although I think the likes of William Knibb and Munro gave a good account of themselves," said Harrison.

He stated that the female team is still in a rebuilding process after Hurricane Melissa.

"It was very challenging for our female team, which suffered big time from the hurricane. The dormitory for the girls was severely damaged, displacing them and making it difficult to train. We were also extremely short in Class One, as we had a small number there and were unable to compete in most of the events," he said.

The outstanding Shanoya Douglas of Holland High was the standout performer among the females after taking the sprint double -- the 100 and 200 metres -- in her first year in Class One. Competing for her new school, the former Muschett High athlete wrote her name in the record books in the 100 metres, winning in 11.37 seconds ahead of Sharia Bell of Mt Alvernia, 11.99, with her teammate Shannon Salmon third in 12.19.

Earlier, Douglas, the World Under-20 200m bronze medallist, romped to victory in the half-lap event in a wind-aided 23.34 seconds, benefiting from a 2.1 metres per second wind. Bell and her teammate finished second and third in 25.32 and 25.76 seconds, respectively.

Among the boys, Sanjaye Seymore of William Knibb sent a strong message that he is ready for all in the sprints after an impressive double win. Winner of the Class One 200m last year at the ISSA Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships, Seymore - who also topped his rivals at the recent Youngster Goldsmith Classics - romped to victory in a wind-aided 20.83 seconds (+3.8 m/s). He later returned to take the 100m in 10.29 seconds.

On both occasions, he had Johan Ramaldo Smythe of Holland and Oshane Jervis of Green Island behind him. Smythe clocked 10.37 seconds for second in the 100m and 21.30 in the 200m, while Jervis did 10.57 in the 100m and 21.68 in the 200m. - R.G.