The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

There have been many spectacular feats in local sports, including the fourth and 10th straight victories by the CH Reeves Raptors and the CR Walker Knights respectively at the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association’s Junior and Senior High Schools Track and Field Championships last week.

But over the next three days at the new Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine will be attempting to win an historic 25th consecutive title in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships.

In the meet, slated to begin 9am today, the Big Red Machine is expected to be challenged by 10 schools, led by arch-rival Queen’s College Comets, which will be out to rain on SAC’s parade.

The other contenders are the Jordan Prince Williams Falcons, St Andrew’s Hurricanes, St Anne’s Bluewaves, St John’s Giants, Nassau Christian Academy Crusaders, Kingsway Academy Saints, Charles W Saunders Cougars, Westminster Diplomats, Temple Christian Suns and Bahamas Academy Stars.

SAC head coach William “Knucklehead” Johnson said the Big Red Machine will be taking a lot of pride into the meet and will be prepared to defend their title.

“I can’t think of any team competition where anyone has won 24 consecutive championships, track and field or any other sport for that matter,” Johnson said. “Twenty-five is huge. It’s really significant. I’m not even certain if anyone can ever do it again. I guess it speaks for the programme that we have in place and the thousands of parents who entrusted their children in our care and believe in the system. Many of them had the opportunity to go elsewhere, even for free, but they still decided to come here and we’ve been stable with our coaches and the people we have brought in.”

Johnson said he remembers the late principal Leviticus ‘Uncle Lou’ Adderley and Chris Ferguson, who played an integral role in the Big Red Machine’s success in the past before the baton was passed on to assistant principal Benedict Dorsett, John Todd, Felix “Fly” Musgrove, Dianne Woodside and now himself.

“We just believed in doing it the old fashion way - hard work,” he said.

Over the duration of their dominance of the championship, Johnson said SAC has been “blessed” with a good crop of coaches and parents who have supported their programme tremendously.

“While the track clubs have played a significant role and even before they came along, SAC has been dominant,” said Johnson, who was a former rival of the Big Red Machine when he competed for the AF Adderley Fighting Tigers as a middle distance runner.

“Even before the BAISS, SAC was a dominant force to reckon with. We’ve just been blessed over the years because we’ve had significant competition from a number of schools over the years. St John’s was right there knocking on the door at the beginning of the BAISS. Then Prince Williams came very close. Now you have Queen’s College.”

Each year, Johnson said the competition has been especially tough and the Big Red Machine has had to fight hard for every victory that they’ve earned.

“There was always someone who was pretty much pretty close every year,” Johnson stated. “But we have been able to survive.”

As they prepare for what many anticipate will be another close encounter with the Comets, Johnson said they will be taking a “solid” team into the championships.

“The real meat of the team is the senior girls with Devynne Charlton and Kieanna Albury in the sprints, Danielle Gibson in the jumps and Holly Rolle in the distance. Iesha Rolle too,” he said. “We just have a whole lot of good senior girls. The intermediate boys are very strong. Our field events from top to bottom are really good, especially in the throws. We’re looking to do very good in all of those events. But all around, I think we have a very good team.”

If you ask Johnson, there’s really no “weakness” to their team.

“I see some part of our team being stronger than others, but I wouldn’t use the word weak to describe any part of our team,” he said.

Today, the 400 metres, 1,500m and high hurdles (75, 100 and 110) metres will take centre stage on the track, along with the 100 preliminaries, in addition to a number of finals in the field events.

The final of the 100m and 4 x 100 relays will highlight day two on Thursday and then on Friday, the meet is expected to conclude with the finals of the 200m, 800 and 4 x 400 relays.

“We just hope to get off to a fast start on day one and hope to maintain our lead through the remaining two days,” Johnson said. “The meet is not won on paper. You have to get on the track and perform. There’s a lot of talks out there, but there has always been a lot of talks.

“We just have to go out there and show it like we’ve done for the past 24 years and if we do that and show the respect for all of the teams and the athletes we are competing against, we should be back as champions with our 25th straight title. But we know that it won’t be an easy feat to accomplish this year.”