St Michael, Lodge in command after opening day

March 20, 2026

The St Michael School has opened up a handy lead in the girls’ points table, while the Lodge School narrowly leads the boys after an absorbing opening day in the Frank Blackman and Sada Williams Zone of the Dasani BSSAC Championships.

St Michael started the day up front in the girls’ division while Queen’s College led the boys, thanks to points accumulated during the recently completed Shakira Shorey Field Event Championships.

At the close of day one at the Usain Bolt Complex, St Michael School had extended that lead to over 60 points, with their 289 points, well ahead of second-placed Harrison College on 226 points and Queen’s College, who sit in third on 180 points. The Lodge School (115) and Alexandra (108) occupy fourth and fifth position, respectively.

However, the competition among the boys is much tighter at the top, with Lodge’s 212 points, a mere three points more than Harrison College in second position. Queen’s College are currently third on 175 points, while St Michael and Coleridge and Parry both have 172 points to round out the top five.

A record fell in the day’s first event, the Under-15 girls’ long jump, where St Michael’s Blake Carrington leapt to victory with a 5.02 metres effort that surpassed the old zone mark of 4.89m.

Another record fell in the Under-20 girls’ high jump, as Shania Mottley of St Michael cleared 1.66m to better the old mark of 1.60m.

Three of the morning’s 1500m events produced records, as Laila McIntyre began the trend with a blistering run in the Under-17 girls’ race.

Taking up an early lead over arch rival Lashay Wilkinson of Princess Margaret, the Harrison College student brought those in attendance to their feet as she crossed the line in 4:45.15 to break not only the zonal record, but also the 32-year-old BSSAC record held by Janelle Inniss since 1994.

Wilkinson’s time of 5:04.46 was also well under the old zone record of 5:13.34.

Both McIntrye and Wilkinson are in Barbados’ CARIFTA Games 60-member squad.

Another CARIFTA qualifier dominated the Under-17 boys’ 1500m, with Zindzele Renwick-Williams of Harrison College leading the field home in 4:23.18, well inside the old record of 4:26.86.

The record runs continued in the Under-20 girls’ race where multiple time CARIFTA medalist Ashlyn Simmons of Alexandra continued her brilliant form this season, clocking 4:40.66. This shattered both the old zone record of 4:58.42 formerly held by Mary Frasier and the BSSAC record of 4:46.73, established by Sonia Gaskin in 2012.

Queen’s College enjoyed an excellent morning in the sprints with Taylor-Rae Wiggins equalling the zone record of 12.43 seconds in the Under-17 girls’ 100m. QC also had the top two fastest qualifiers in both the Under-17 boys’ and girls’ divisions.

Rashad Gibson of Lodge warmed up for his upcoming CARIFTA Games appearance, by equaling the zonal record in the Under-20 boys’ 110m hurdles. His time of 14.17 seconds matched the record held by Nathan Fergusson since 2018.

Brent Lashley of St. Michael is the new record holder in the Under-15 boys’ 800m. He stopped the clock in 2:06.35, well ahead of the old mark of 2:14.02.