By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
Siblings Dionte George, Harrigan, and K’Jonae George, Rhymer, were the Victor and Victrix Ludorum with 43 and 47 points
Defending champions O’Neal, House 3, stormed back from a 30-point deficit to tie Harrigan, House 2—who led by 22 points after pre-events—in a history making Bregado Flax Educational Center inter-house sports day, that was held as a twilight meet Saturday on Virgin Gorda, for the first time in its history. Rain and a power outage also added to the excitement.
O’Neal won the final 4x200m Relay, to tie Harrigan at 56-569 points. Rhymer, House 1, amassed 420.
“We were holding on to it but we couldn’t bring it home,” Harrigan House leader Kimberlin George in her first stint in the role, told Island Sun Sports. “But we didn’t have a lot of athletes in the female senior category, so that’s where we kinda fell back, really and truly. That’s where our downfall was.”
O’Neal’s leader, Karen Matos, said her athletes have heart. “They would say they’re tired, they’re not running, then like five minutes later, they’d come back and say,” Listen, I’m gonna be in that race, just put me down,” Matos noted. “They had all the things that happen to athletes on the track, but they were still running, which is what happened with our kids. They’d still run, even if they had injury.”
While O’Neal has been perennial champs, George was satisfied with the tie. “Obviously, we wanted the trophy of course by ourselves, but honestly, it just showed resilience, and the students went straight to the end,” she said. “It feels good sharing the title and it was like no one was faulty, it’s a shared victory and it feels really good.”
BFEC PE Teacher Shanyiah Caul who coordinated the event, said she was surprised by the tie and it showed that the children fought hard, they had heart and showed up for their houses and that’s what I really liked—that they showed up for their House.
“I think the sports this year was the best one yet. The children excelled in their events, a lot of talent was shown and they have heart,” Caul said. “Those children showed a true representation of heart on that track. And the crowd, the parents, the spectators, it was the biggest crowd since I’ve been the PE Teacher for BFEC. It was massive. I expected a crowd, but I didn’t expect so many people. I really am thankful that they came to support the event and students.”
As the first twilight meet, both George and Matos said that it was “amazing.” “The support on the field was just overflowing with people. People were so excited. The students’ races were exciting, the parent’s races were exciting, it’s like everybody was just there,” Matos said. “They were there to support the kids.”
George said it was a night that one had to be there and couldn’t be captured just on videos and live broadcast didn’t do it. “When you were there, you just felt it,”
Despite a power outage, and rain, no one left. “With the night sports, I don’t think I could ever go back to day sports to be honest,” Caul said as both George and Matos agreed. “The past two years I thought there were people, but Saturday had (lots of) people. It was very well supported. I was thankful that they stayed even through the rain and the power outage.”
Division Champs. U15 Girls: Kaeja Creque, Harrigan House, 40 points. Boys: Audony Gangoo, Harrigan, 32. U17 Girls: Joliya Morton, O’Neal, 36. Boys: Dionte George, Harrigan, 43. 18+ Girls: K’Jonae George, Rhymer, 47. Boys: Jaadon Quashie, O’Neal, 29. Victor Ludorum: Dionte George, Harrigan, 43. Victrix Ludorum: K’Jonae George, Rhymer, 47.
