The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THREE records - all on the field - and three other double victories were posted yesterday as the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) kicked of the senior high version of their 23rd annual Track and Field Championship at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium.

The highlight of the first day came in the under-20 boys pole vault, where Ramel Poitier, of the CV Bethel Stingrays, shattered his record of 2.99m or 9ft 9 3/4in he set last year by winning the title with 3.45m (11ft 3 3/4in) and his teammate Douvankiylinn Rolle joined him by going over the previous mark after he cleared 3.03m (9ft 11 1/4in).

“It wasn’t my best performance, but I felt pretty good,” said Poitier, a 17-year-old 12th grader. “I had a lot of school work to do, so I didn’t put in as much time as I expected in training, so I was glad that I was able to break my record. I think if I had practiced a little more, I could have done better.”

CR Walker’s Raynache Sands tossed the shot put 14.47m (47ft 5 3/4in) in the under-18 boys event to erase the previous mark set by Kristin Rolle of 12.42m (40ft 9in) in 2014. Jalon Dames, of CV Bethel, also went past the earlier mark when he finished second with 14.07m (46ft 2in).

And CR Walker’s Mickela Rolle and Alexis Miller of Doris Johnson tied the meet record of 1.42m (4ft 7 3/4in) when they came in first and second respectively in the under-20 girls high jump. Rolle, a 15-year-old 10th grader, was also a double winner, taking the 400m in 1min 05.58 secs.

“I trained hard and I followed my coach’s instructions,” Rolle said. “In the 400m, I got out fast and ran tall. It was a good race, although I’m tired. I just finished the high jump, so I was pleased to win both events.”

CC Sweeting Cobras’ basketball star Adrian ‘AJ’ Thompson soared 1.85m (6ft 0 3/4in) to clinch the under-20 boys high jump. Following the performance, Thompson went onto the track and pulled away from the field on the second of the three and a half laps and coasted to an easy victory in the 1,500m in 4 min 38.78 sec. CR Walker’s Desmond Jones was almost 100m behind in 4:49.41.

‘“I went out hard because I wanted to break the record,” Thompson said. “I hurt my back clearing my final high jump and I think that hurt my chances. But I was still pleased with the performance. I was happy to come out with the two victories.”

Kaylea Albury, of CR Walker, emerged with the top performance on the girls’ side and the 12th grader could probably be awarded the humanitarian award for the meet, if one was to be presented.

Albury, in defending her titles, took the tape in the under-20 100m hurdles in 14.20 sec, well ahead of the rest of the field as RM Bailey’s Torinque Bernard came in second in 18.53. Albury, whose teammate went down clearing the third flight of hurdles, came back and sprinted to victory in the 100m in 12.21, holding off her teammate Renee Brown, who was second in 12.26.

“It was good. I came out here to