The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

CLEVELAND Eneas is starting to develop a dynasty of its own, winning the New Providence Primary Schools Track and Field championship title for the fourth consecutive year.

But after they celebrated their 74-point victory - 294-216 - over Yellow Elder on Friday morning at a special assembly on their school campus, head coach Mariska Thompson said it’s going to be hard to pull off a fifth straight next year.

“Fantastic. Fantastic,” were the first two words that Thompson uttered as she summed up the team’s performance last week at Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium. “I knew that my students could have done it because they put in the hard work.

“They put in the work from November and I always tell them that hard work bring success and it showed. It’s not that the other schools were not that good, we were just that much better.”

Now in her 14th year at Cleveland Eneas, Thompson said she has always had the philosophy to take it “one year at a time,” so she’s not putting any emphasis on 2017. She wants her students to enjoy their success as four-time champions as they were feted by the school administration following the ceremony.

In successfully defending their title, Cleveland Eneas captured a total of seven gold, medals, 11 silver and eight bronze medals.

Frederick Johnson, who won a pair of gold medals and a silver, said he was delighted to be back on the championship team.

“My performance was good,” he said.

Alan Clayton, a 10-year-old fifth grader said there was no way that he was going to lose the 1,200 metres that he competed in. He added that he was even more elated that they repeated as champions.

“At first I thought I was going to lose because most of the people went out fast, but at the end of the race, they started to get tried, so I just pushed past them,” he said. “I was very excited because I thought Yellow Elder was going to win this year because they had so much people.”

Raven Pratt, 11, was the recipient of two silver medals and bronze. The sixth grader said she gave it her best shot.

“We did excellent,” she stated. “I expected it.”

Shorneka Williams was a winner of a gold medal, a pair of silver and a bronze. The 10-year-old fifth grader said it was a performance she will cherish.

“I felt it was a good experience. I really didn’t like track until now when I see how it can be,” she stated. “Winning for the school and getting Mrs. Thompson happy was what made me did it.”

For Jamiah Nabbie, the meet was a super one as she secured a pair of gold medals and was awarded the most outstanding performance in the C Division.,

“I felt very awesome,” said Nabbie, the 8-year-old third grader. “To win the most outstanding award says that I am a very fast runner.  Coach Thompson trained us hard and she got us to run the 400m. So I was happy that we won.”

Khalis Rolle, the Member of Parliament for Pinewood Gardens, who has adopted the school, was hand to congratulate the track team and help to distribute their medals and pins to the athletes.

“It’s home and I’m participating in one of the most favorite activities that I participate in as a Member of Parliament,” said Rolle, a former sprinter on the Big Red Machine track team during his heyday as a student at St Augustine’s College.

“Track and field wads my first love and still is my first love. What I am today is because of the discipline that I developed in track and field. So when this opportunity came for me to congratulate these athletes, I had to take advantage of it.”

Rolle, who went on to represent the Bahamas at the Carifta Games, said Cleveland Eanes is a school of high excellence, so it wasn’t surprising to him to hear that they dominated the track meet again.

“I understand the value of my presence to these young people, saying to them that they have the world ahead of them and it’s just a matter of them making the decision to capture that world,” Rolle stressed. “I’m looking for them to continue their dynasty. They have a great coach and I know they can do it again.”