St. Andrew has returned to the pinnacle of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) Sagicor National Athletics Championships following a dominant performance over the course of the two-day championships. St. Andrew led from the start and entered the final day, Saturday May 16, ahead of the chasing pack which included defending champions St. Catherine and perennial contenders Portland. Despite a late charge by St. Catherine who finally showed their 2014 championship mettle in the relays, St. Andrew was able to hold on to regain the title, amassing 326 points.
Four records were broken on the day with defending champions St. Catherine responsible for three of the four as they staged a late charge to regain the title. Brianna Liston broke the Under 13 Girls' 200m record with a time of 25.58 seconds while St. Catherine also set records in the Under 11 Boys' 4X100m relay with 53.50 seconds and the Under 13 Girls' 4x100m relay posting 50.61 seconds. St. Andrew was responsible for the fourth record broken at the meet with Anna-Kay Emanuel throwing 10.83m to win the Girls' Shot Put Open.
St. Catherine's late surge was only enough for second as they secured 311 points while Portland was third with 261 points. St. Elizabeth (191.5) and Manchester (174) rounded out the top five parishes at the 2015 staging of the championships.
Merlene Smith, parish coordinator for St. Andrew was very pleased with the overall effort from her team, as they have been patiently waiting for the chance to regain the title they last won in 2013.
"We feel elated and really excited about regaining this title, since we lost it in 2013 we had to go back to drawing board and this year it was proper planning and execution on the day that saw us victorious. We really wanted to come out and make the championships exciting because Sagicor has contributed so much to it and we thought excellent performances was a way thanking them for continued support. Now that we have won the title we will now concentrate on keeping it and I don't want to lose it ever again," said a jubilant Smith. 
St. Andrew's also had an impressive showing in the Boys' section of the championships where they secured 181 points, 31 better than St. Catherine (150). Manchester (113) finished third with Portland (98) and St. Ann (95) rounding out the top five for the Boys' standings. In the Girls' section it was Portland who outclassed the field amassing 163 points to best the field. St. Catherine (161) was a close second and overall champions St. Andrew (145) completed the top three.
Held since 1962 the championships have helped nurture athletes such as Dr. The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, Nesta Carter, Yohan Blake and the superb Bertland Cameron. In fact Jamaica's 2012 London Olympics silver medal winning quartet of Veronica Campbell-Brown, Sherone Simpson, Kerron Stewart and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce all participated in the JTA Sagicor National Athletics Championships.
Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited is the leading Life and Health insurance provider in Jamaica. The Company commenced operations in 1970 as Life of Jamaica Limited, the first locally owned life insurance company and the first life insurance company to be listed on the JSE. Sagicor Group Jamaica is a financial services conglomerate. The Group offers products and services in the areas of Banking, Insurance, Investments, Real Estate, Asset Management and Retirement Planning. The Sagicor Group owns the 3rd largest bank in Jamaica and one of the top Investments Company. Sagicor Group Jamaica is a member of the wider Sagicor Financial Corporation. Sagicor Financial Corporation operates in over 20 countries and its operations date back to 1840.
