Naggo Head dig deep to clinch four straight Primary Champs title

Defending champions Naggo Head won the 38^th INSPORTS Primary Champs in one of the closest and most exciting finals ever.

With the lead changing several times throughout today’s final day at the National Stadium, the Floyd Coke contingent from Portmore managed to retain their title by only six points ahead of main rival Spanish Town.

At the end of the 40 events contested Naggo Head amassed 163 points to top the table, while Spanish Town (157); Rousseau (156), Greater Portmore (113) and Lyssons (91) to completed the top five.

The champions were trailing by 24 points at Primary Champs

It was always going to be a real challenge for Naggo Head based on performances in the preliminaries and by the half-way mark, their fortunes were looking bleak. After 22 events scored, the defending champions were 24 points behind leaders Spanish Town and 10 less than second-placed Rousseau on 63 points who also led at one stage in the morning.

Naggo Head, however, narrowed the gap by 10 points after 32 events, with Spanish Town on 124 points.

But the lead would alternate between these two teams a few times thereafter before Naggo Head prevailed in the final race – the boys’ 4x200m relay Open.

The scores intriguingly were tied at 145 points apiece after 38 events with Spanish Town taking gold in the penultimate race – girls’ 4x200m relay Open with Naggo Head taking silver. It means Naggo entered the final race two points adrift and with Spanish Town without a team in the final event, they needed to finish more than eighth to retain their most prized silverware.

Naggo finished third behind race favourite Rousseau, who took the gold and Portsmouth, sparking jubilation among their supporters.

Meantime, Spanish Town’s ace sprinter Joshua Lewis took the Class One boys’ sprint double in the marquee event at these championships by adding the 200m gold to his 100m crown won in the morning session.

Within the space of just over an hour, Lewis repelled the challenge of Southborough’s Jay-Zyre Turner, capturing the 100m in 12.42 seconds to Turner’s 12.50 and Jericho’s Najair Grant, who took third in 12.82 seconds.

Moments later, Lewis had to come from the behind in the 200m final, overtaking his main rival in the last 20 metres.

Long jump winner Terrica Francis earned herself and St Francis’ second gold medal by adding the Class One girls’ 400m title.

Cheyenne Bennett ended the championships as one of several double winners

Cheyenne Bennett of Spanish Town was one of several double winners, winning the Class Two girls’ 100m and 200m titles, likewise Brihanna Powell, who captured the Class Three girls’ 100m and 150m titles.

Spanish Town broke the record in the preliminary round in the Class Two boys’ 4x100m relay in a time of 51.78 but had to settle for third in the final won by Naggo Head in 52.28 seconds.

The Class Three boys’ 4x100m relay record was broken twice on the final day with three teams running below the 53.71 mark set by Angels Primary in 2006. After setting a new time of 52.88 in the semi-finals, Greater Portmore ran even faster to win gold in 52.50 dragging St Aloysius (53.11) and St Richards (53.48) behind them.

The points standing below shows 12 teams

1. Naggo Head 163
2. Spanish Town 157
3. Rousseau 156
4. Greater Portmore 113
5. Lyssons 91
6. Lawrence Tavern 69
7. Half-Way-Tree 62
8. St Richards 52
9. Clan Carthy 50
10. St Aloysius 48
11. Friendship 48
12. Portsmouth 47