Harry pleased with Thomas Saunders outing at Penn Relays

Teacher and head coach at the Thomas Saunders Secondary School, Godfrey Harry, said he is very pleased with the performance of the school’s team of athletes who competed at the 2024 Penn Relay Classic in the USA April 25 – 27, 2024.

“The outing for me was good. It had its ups and it had its downs. We had some disappointment in that three of our athletes did not get their visas which hampered significantly, especially the boys 4×4 and 4×1 team. So that in a sense was a shortcoming…because they really worked hard, and not having two of the better boys for the 4×4 was a disappointment for us,” Harry told SEARCHLIGHT last week.

It was the school’s 11th trip to the Penn Relays, and this year, a 10-member squad comprising five males and five females accompanied by three teachers, made the trip.

Harry admits, “…we didn’t perform as well as we should with the boys, but at least it gave them an exposure which would be carried into next year, because out of the seven boys that were training, we still have six of them for next year, which is good for us…so we have a base”.

He pointed out that the female athletes worked hard, and “…that hard work paid off because they were able to win both their heats in the 4×100 and the 4×400 at the Penn Relays”.

Harry was so impressed with the performance of the female athletes, he said, “I credit them a plaque for winning the 4×400.”

Despite not winning the top prize which is the goal of every competing school, coach Harry remains positive.

“For me, I think it put our school back on the whole radius in terms of athletics in the big market. It’s also a marketing for sports tourism for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.” He said it also gave the athletes a chance to be ambassadors for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, their school, their family, and themselves, and provided them “a chance to be marketed for possible scholarships”.

Additionally, the long-serving teacher and coach said, “outside of that aspect, it also would help to enhance the whole aspect of self-esteem and confidence in the athletes in terms of promotion of themselves. So I think all in all, it was a good outing for us, and it can only get better for Thomas Saunders Secondary School”.

At the end of their participation at the 2024 Penn Relays, the Thomas Saunders Secondary School male team of Jonte Ollivierre, Jahron Williams, Kahlil Lavia, and Trevion Burgin ran 48.30 seconds in the Boys 4X100m relay, and placed 547 out of the 594 teams which competed.

The quartet of Jahron Williams, Jonte Ollivierre, Trevion Burgin, and Kahlil Lavia ran 3 minutes 48.30s in the Boys 4X400m relay, placing 491 out of the 531 competing teams.

Antoniya Haynes, Mephia Munroe, Shaquania Jacobs, Jniah Goddard who made up the Girls 4X100m relay team, ran 52.57s in that event placing 356 of 595 competing teams.

The quartet of Mephia Munroe, Jniah Goddard, Shaquania Jacobs, and Olicia Phillips ran 4 minutes 10.87s in the Girls 4X400m relay, and placed 196 of the 561 competing teams.