media_artricles :: 2015

Penn honours for ElDo

The 2002 El Dorado Senior Comprehensive 4x100 metres relay team will be inducted to the Penn Relays Wall of Fame, in Pennsylvania, USA, on Friday.

Thirteen years ago, Dion Rodriguez, Marc Burns, Kevin Straker and Darrel Brown teamed up for victory in the High School Boys Championship of America sprint relay, the powerful ElDo quartet getting the baton round the track in 40.15 seconds—a Penn Relays record that stayed in the books for four years.

David Prime, a teacher at the school which has since been renamed El Dorado East Secondary, was at the world famous Penn Carnival Relay back in 2002, accompanying the athletes as manager/coach.

“We were over the moon in 2001,” Prime told the Express, “when we became the first school from Trinidad and Tobago to win at the Penn Relays. In going back in 2002 we were quite confident of defending the title.

“We were extremely proud to have won a second title in 2002, and in the way we did it. We broke a 16-year-old record, and Darrel Brown was named one of the athletes of the meet. We felt very proud of our achievement, and felt this would have been the opening for more schools from Trinidad and Tobago to attend the Penn Relays. We also made the Jamaicans recognise that we too could compete.”

Prime said he was thrilled when he got the news that the record-breaking ElDo quartet would be one of four relay teams in the Penn Relays Wall of Fame Class of 2015.

“We have a culture in T&T that when something is done we shelve it. ElDo is a brand as far as the Penn Relays is concerned, and to be inducted to the Wall of Fame is an amazing thing. I feel proud of what we achieved and proud for Trinidad and Tobago.”

The manager/coach said that in addition to Friday’s induction ceremony, organisers of the Penn Relays had planned to introduce the famous ElDo quartet to the massive crowd that will be at Franklin Field on Saturday afternoon.

“The exposure for the country…being introduced to a crowd of 50,000 at the stadium, live on US television.”

There is a question mark, however, over the attendance of Team ElDO at the Penn Relays. The four athletes and Prime were expected to be in Pennsylvania no later than Thursday, one day ahead of the induction ceremony, but unfortunately, anticipated funding for the trip had not yet materialised by press time, last night.

“It’s still unknown if we’ll be there,” said Prime, “but whether we’re there or not, we achieved something to be proud of, and that achievement cannot be erased. “Getting to a Penn Relays final is difficult, competing against 600 schools. We did it three times, won twice, broke a record, and now the Wall of Fame. This is a major honour as far as I’m concerned. It can be used by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sport to motivate students and athletes, showing them what’s possible with hard work. It’s a learning tool.”

Another T&T athlete, 1964 double Olympic bronze medallist Edwin Roberts will also be inducted to the Penn Relays Wall of Fame on Friday, as part of the 1965 North Carolina College 4x220 yards relay team.

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