KC coming back with old formula

It might seem hard to believe, but it has been nine years since Kingston College, the winningest School in high school athletics history, has lifted the Mortimer Geddes Trophy.

But coaches at the North Street- based institution believe the wait will come to an end on March 30, as they have reactivated the formula that won them six straight titles in the 2000s.

“When we used to dominate Champs, a lot of people used to wonder how they are winning Champs and we not seeing them on the track, because we used to do well in the field and hurdles. We used to call it our bread and butter, and we are going back to that,” said newly appointed head coach Leford Grant. “Last year, we scored about eight points in the hurdles and we know that for us to really contend, then we can’t do that so we have brought in a hurdles coach and we are seeing some good results.”

Rectify that problem

Grant also knows that not having the experience of winning Champs is affecting his boys, and he is also making attempts to rectify that problem.

“It is not the first time that we have gone through an extended period where we have not won, and every time it always takes something special, not just from the boys but the entire Kingston College fraternity. We are relying on old boys who have won Champs before to come in and motivate the boys and show them the importance of winning Champs,” he explained.

Andre Willington, who won Champs six out of the seven years he spent at the institution, is one of those persons who is teaching the boys from North Street how to win again. He is now in charge of the sprints programme full-time.

“It has been a challenge to motivate the boys but I am up for the task. They have never won Champs and so they don’t know how to do it. They are very good at winning individual races, but they do not know how to put everything together as a group, and that is what we are trying to teach them,“ Wellington said.