media_artricles :: 2015

Quadruple gold for Smith at Schools Champs

Avindale Smith (North East) emerged as the Top Male athlete at this year’s National Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo last week, winning four titles.

Smith secured the Boys Under-14 100 metres (11.68 seconds), 200m (24.40), long jump (5.52 metres) and high jump (1.62m) titles to be the lone quadruple champion of the two day meet.

In the 100m, Smith finished ahead of Shomari Nicholas (Port of Spain) 12.29 and Kester Richards (St Patrick) 12.29. In the 200m, Smith got to the line in front of Nicholas (25.35) and his PoS teammate Shaquan Baptiste (25.73).

The champion then took the long jump, defeating Tobago’s Savion Joseph (4.94) and Justin Guy (4.85) before landing the high jump crown to leave Guy (1.53) and another Tobago athlete, Che Saunders (1.45) with the minor medals.

His triumphs came one week after he won the Boys 13-14 Heptathlon at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) age group trials. Smith also captured national titles in the Boys Under-14 pentathlon (2014), Under-13 pentathlon (2013) and Under-11 tetrathlon (2012). He also struck gold at the 2014 Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) Games winning the Under-13 high jump title.

The battle for the Top Female of the meet honours was a close one, with Anya Akili (Tobago) and Patrice Richards (Caroni) both collecting three titles.

Akili took the Girls Under-18 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and high jump events. Akili clocked 15.45 seconds in taking the shorter hurdles ahead of Iyana Doyle of St George West (18.02) and North East’s Kermisha Serapio (21.12) before beating Carifta bronze medallist Heziah Phillips (1:05.06 to 1:05.26) in the one lap hurdles. She then secured the high jump with a clearance of 1.50m, leaving the North Eastern pair of Daniella Barker (1.45) and Delicia Thom (1.40) with silver and bronze.

Richards claimed the Girls Under-14 100m, 200m and high jump events, first clocking 12.70 in the 100m to beat Rae-ann Serville of POS (12.88) and Tobago’s Shanika Ashby (13.14).

In the 200m she was first to the tape in 26.02, relegating Serville (26.48) and Ashby (27.23) to the lower placings yet again. Richards led a 1-2 finish for Caroni in the long jump, getting the top spot with a distance of 4.46 ahead of Jayda Williams (4.29). Aaliyah Alexander (Tobago) copped bronzed

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