Purple reigns supreme at Combermere

Victor ludorum and Division Three champion Nathan Brathwaite led the charge for Set E (Purple), as they amassed 847 points to retain their status as champions of Combermere School’s inter-house sports held today in Waterford, St. Michael.

It was a dominant performance by the Purple House athletes to secure victory by 114 points ahead of Set F (Orange) in second position on 733 points and Set C (Yellow), who tallied 698 for third place. Finishing fourth was Set B (Red) with a total of 667 points, while Set D (Green) accounted for 599 points to finish fifth and Set A (Blue) House brought up the rear on 433 points.

The most outstanding athlete was Nyema Taylor of Blue House. She registered 100 points for Blue House competing in Division Three by impressively earning seven gold medals and three silvers.

Taylor crossed the 200m finish line first in 28.99 seconds and produced similar results in the 400m [1:07.28], the 800m [2:57.34] and the 1500m [6:45.39].

She also registered gold in the discus throw [14.52m] and the javelin [12.86m]. Taylor did every possible event, placing second in the 200m, high jump and shot put.

Champions Purple House topped three of the eight divisions including Brathwaite who finished with 68 points competing in Division Three.

The 14-year-old captured gold medals when he ran 12.82 seconds in the 100m, 26.34 seconds in the 200m and 1:01.35 in the 400m.

Brathwaite was not done there, as he cleared the high jump bar at 1.40m for first place, came second in the 800m and was fourth in the 1500m, discus throw, shot put and javelin events.

Purple House stamped their authority in Division One, led by Afraka Bynoe-Forde with 67 points in the girls and Ross Waldron who ended with 47 in the boys.

Bynoe-Forde did not win any of her races or events but accumulated enough points thanks to several second place finishes.  She was second in the 400m, 1500m, 3000m and triple jump. She also came third in the 100m and 600m and fourth in the discus. 

Waldron produced a winning throw of 44.70m in the javelin and was third in the 200m, discus, high jump and fifth in the triple jump. 

Division Two top male athlete Romario Dates from Orange House amassed 51 points and was unstoppable. Dates, a talented footballer, showed his capabilities on track with outstanding performances.

He won the 100m in 12.27 seconds, the 200m in 24.62 seconds, the 400m in a time of 56.44 seconds and his 800m time of 2:22.23 was also unmatched. Dates came second in the 1500m.

Orange House also snatched top honors in Division Four compliments Dinari Gilkes who gained 51 points, having placed first in the long jump with a leap of 4.28m and he also cleared the best height of 1.35m in the high jump. Gilkes was also second in the 100m and shot put, came third in the 200m and fourth in the 400m.

Yellow House had two outstanding athletes and record breaker Tia Applewaithe competing in Division Four was one of them. Tia scored 61 points and was in keen competition all day against her twin sister Tania also of Yellow House.

Tia ran 27.52 seconds for the top podium finish in the 200m ahead of her sister who ran 27.82 seconds for second position. Despite Tia standing out in her age group, her sister Tania set the lone record of the day in the 400m with a showing of 1:04.17 to replace Teleah Chandler’s 2001 mark of 1:04.80.

Tia was in a class of her own in the 800m, long jump and high jump, all of which she won and was second in the 100m, 400m and fourth in the shot put. 

Fellow Yellow House teammate Tonique Fleming took charge in Division Two with 83 points. Fleming was strong in the field events and should contribute valuable points in that department for Combermere when the Barbados Secondary Schools Athletics Championship comes around in March. 

Fleming won the discus with an 18.86m throw, cleared the high jump at 1.30m, registered 4.87m in the long jump, and produced a throw of 8.29m in the javelin. She was second in the 800m, 1500m, and came third in the 100m, 3000m and javelin throw.

Blue House came last overall but won the most exciting race of the day in the Division One Boys 4x100m relay. They clocked 47.55 seconds ahead of Yellow House in 47.59 and Purple House 47.70 was third.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb