'This has been the closest Champs'

Holmwood coach says margin of victory-loss will be bigger in future

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

Holmwood Technical High School's girls continued what seem an impregnable dynasty, by bagging their ninth consecutive Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/GraceKennedy Boys & Girls' Championships on Saturday night inside the National Stadium.

The champions held off the strong challenge of pre-meet favourites Edwin Allen High, who were once again relegated to being bridesmaids.

It was, however, not a walk in the park for the Christiana-based school, which was pushed to the wire by long-standing nemesis Edwin Allen and emerged victors by a mere six points, as the final points standing read Holmwood, 326, to Edwin Allen's 320.

The mastermind behind Holmwood's success, Maurice Wilson, has pledged that future title races will not be as close.

"This has been the closest Championships I have been involved in and this will be the only one this close, as it is either going to be a big victory or a big loss," Wilson pronounced at the end of the four-day battle.

journey to the field

Leading up to the Championships, Holmwood did not have the services of their field, which saw them having to journey miles to the Kirkvine sports club for training. Wilson believes this fact, combined with Edwin Allen's dogged effort, influenced how close the title race turned out to be.

"Edwin Allen had a very competitive team, but also the lack of our training field contributed to this victory being very close. But I must give credit to the Edwin Allen team," expressed Wilson, who said he was keeping his fingers crossed that the school's field will be ready for next season.

"There was a committee in place to get our field sorted out and for whatever reason we were not able to use the field for the entire track and field year," Wilson shared.

"We are just hoping that the field will be in place for us come September, if the programme is to continue in a progressive manner, because it was extremely difficult for the young ladies and difficult for the coaching staff," he added.

Coming into the 52nd Girls' Championships, Edwin Allen were favoured by the pundits to capture their first title, but this only sought to motivate Wilson and his team.

"Obviously they (Edwin Allen) were the clear favourites; they had the better all-round team, but I would credit a lot of our success to the coaching staff, headed by Mr Dave Anderson, Mr Kirk Brown, Mr Dwight Jones, medical staff Paul Houghton and manager Chester McCarthy," Wilson outlined.

"We have been working together for a couple of years and we have a very cohesive unit and I would want to give this group of persons the credit and also the young ladies.

"I also want to make special mention of the Class Four girls as the youngsters really came out and performed extremely well," he added.

Wilson is not yet prepared to comment on next season and the prospect of a 10th straight title.

"We still have a good team, but we have to make sure we don't get complacent and we have the necessary facilities and equipment in place," Wilson stated. "There are some issues to be sorted out; I am just employed to coach the track team, so I cannot speak to the administration of how and what will happen, but for now we are just trying to enjoy this victory."