Hydel coach surprised by prep school title in rebuilding year

IN WHAT was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Hydel Preparatory, they still surged back to the top of Prep school athletics, winning the 2023 JISA/Little Caesar’s National Inter Preparatory Championships as the final day closed yesterday at the National Stadium.

Similar to the high school girls three months ago, Hydel took the crown on the penultimate race of the meet, finishing second in the 4x200m girls’ relay open to finish with 179 points.

Mona, who had entered the final day in the lead, were second with 170.5 points. Vaz Prep were third with 155 points, while Sts Peter and Paul Prep (149) and Lannaman’s Prep (107) completed the top five.

In a see-saw battle, Mona had the lead-up until the last set of relays. Hydel were the beneficiary of a key decision to reinstate their placing and points from a previous relay final, after being initially hit with a disqualification.

Hydel coach Richard Johnson described the feat as remarkable, given the fact that they had played down their expectations this year because they were trying to get back to full strength after losing the title to Emmanuel Christian Academy last year.

SOMETHING SPECIAL

“It is something special. I think we got some divine intervention because we were out in five relays. We had a lot of mishaps and for us to come back today (yesterday) and give a good account of ourselves is amazing. They pressed and pressed down to the last breath. It is remarkable,” Johnson told The Sunday Gleaner.

For some, it was the first time that they were competing, and Johnson was pleased with how they handled themselves.

“Most of them came out of our development pool. Some of them were competing for the first time at a championship. What is good is that even though we didn’t have a strong team, we won this to finish the season on an impressive note,” Johnson said.

The victory completes an impressive six months for the Hydel Group of Schools after they won their first ISSA/GraceKennedy Girls’ title last March.

The final day saw some strong performances on track with St Catherine Prep’s Amir Perrin winning the boys’ Class Two 60 metres in a new meet record of 8.35 seconds. Sts Peter and Paul’s Talexia Pennat won the girls’ Class Two title in 8.61. The Class Three 50m girls title was won by Mount Saint Joseph’s Khariah Peart in 7.86. The Class Three boys title was captured by Lannaman’s Prep’s Devoran Dixon in 7.73.

In the 200 metres, Lanamman’s Mick-Kayla Gardener won the Class One title in 27.58, while Hydel’s Rajeve Allison completed a hat trick of individual titles, adding the Class One boys’ 200 to the high jump and the 400-metre titles he won earlier, clocking 25.13

In the 60m hurdles, Hydel’s Kalece Williams won the Class One girls’ title in 10.71 while Vaz Nathan Merchant won the boys’ title in 10.00.