Anthony Minott, Freelance Writer
Spanish Town Primary athletes celebrate their fourth consecutive win in the INSPORTS/Swizzzle Athletic Championships at the National Stadium on Saturday. Carol Campbell (foreground, white hat), marketing assistant at the Seprod Group, the company in charge of the Swizzzle brand, joins the celebration. - ANTHONY MINOTT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Spanish Town Pri-mary survived a strong challenge from neighbours St. Catherine to capture their fourth consecutive title, as the INSPORTS/Swizzzle Primary Athletic Championships ended inside the National Stadium on Saturday.
Spanish Town tallied a combined 178 points, three ahead of St. Catherine's 175, Naggo Head third with 120.5, followed by St. Benedict's 92.5 and Angels 82 rounding off the top five.
St. Catherine, with their potent male unit, took the boys category with 109 points, trailed by Spanish Town 73 and Naggo Head 63.5.
Spanish Town's girls sealed the title as they took the girls category with 105 points, topping St. Catherine 66.5 and Naggo Head 57.
Coach of Spanish Town, Dennis Alexander, said the victory was "sweet".
THE BEST TEAM
"I can't even explain the feeling right now ... the victory was a sweet one. I thought that St. Catherine had the best team from last year and they must have done something wrong to lose. However, I knew it would come down to the relays and we won three and placed in others."
St. Catherine's Marcia Nephew thought also her team lost their way in the relays.
"We fell down in the relays," she said. "The boys Class Two and Three did not run to expectation."
The most outstanding athlete on the day was Bridgeport's Jazeel Murphy, who took the Class Two boys sprint double. He blasted the 100m in 12.81 while inarguably the best race of the meet, St. Catherine's Twaine Gordon gave Murphy all he could take down the stretch, but the Bridgeport athlete powered home in the 200m sprint in a sizzling 25.86 as the National Stadium erupted in cheers. Gordon's time was 25.94, while Mona's Deshawn Jackson was a distant third in 27.12.
St. Catherine High's Christopher Byfield was also outstanding, blowing away the field in the 100m and 200m Class One boys. He ran 12.60 to take the 100m ahead of Spanish Town's Romario Constant ,12.89, and Navaudo White 12.93.
In the 200m he was devastating, stopping the clock in 25.57, leaving the rest to battle for the bronze and silver. His team-mate Stephen Rose, who won the 400m, was next in 26.47.
St. Patrick's Shanice Fletcher was the most outstanding runner on the girls side with her double gold medal performance.
She took the 100m in mode-rate 13.66 after posting 12.99 in the heats and the 200m in 27.34, again slower than her heats run of 26.98.
However, Excelsior's Omelia Gordon ran brilliantly to take the girls 400m Class 1 in 1:01.46 ahead of Tarrant's Tereca Duncan and Spanish Town's Keyanda Henry.
Meanwhile, Seprod's marketing assistant Carol Camp-bell, whose company is in charge of the Swizzzle brand, said it was an excellent meet and her company is looking forward to 2007.
She encouraged more schools, especially in the rural areas, to participate as Pri-mary Champs is open to all schools in Jamaica.
