HAVING won the ISSA Athletics Championship on 31 occasions, Kingston College (KC) are the most successful school in the event.

But there have been an uneasy five years at the institution, having not lifted the Mortimer Geddes trophy since 2009.

Team captain and Class One hurdler Levaughn Battick has been echoing the school’s motto as he rallies the troops during training.

“The Brave May Fall But Never Yield’, we are living up to our motto. The guys are working assiduously this season. We have a pretty good all-round team. We are pretty good on the track, in the jumps and steady improvement in the throwing area to get as much points as possible,” he noted.

“It has been five years since we last won this championship and the guys are determined to carry back the Mortimer Geddes trophy to 2a North Street. I know that success and the victory is inevitable,” said Battick confidently.

In 2009, KC dug deep and eked out the narrowest of victories by 1.5 points scoring 223.5 to Calabar’s 222 as Champs went down to the wire in the last race.

Calabar, led by Ramone ‘Batman’ McKenzie, went into the last race trailing by 4.5 points. On the final leg, McKenzie, the 400m champion, was third with KC in sixth spot and had it finished in that order, Calabar would have won Champs. But anchor man Andre Peart fought bravely and improved KC’s position to fifth, which gave them the smallest of victory margins.

In 2006, KC did that again, defeating Calabar by two points, and this year, fans can expect another hard-fought battle between the two heavyweights of Champs.

Former Champs throwing standout, Orville Byfield, returns as head coach of his alma mater and there is a renewed sense of optimism.

“Kingston College is under a new dispensation and we have restructured the programme. We have about four specific areas that we have coaches and assistant coaches. We have restructured our programme to meet the need of 2014 Boys’ and Girls’ Championships and I am confident of the athletes that are here and also that they will perform to the best of their abilities,” said Byfield, who won the Class One shot put in 2000.

Calabar are heavy favourites to win this year’s edition, but KC will have a lot to say in the final argument and despite not appearing as strong as Calabar in the field, there might be a few surprises as it is said that KC have been playing possum.

“It is not a secret but we have our own methods of how we apply our training schedule for our athletes. We have equipped coaches and we have put in place measures that would help our athletes in their performances,” said Byfield.

“Our boys are confident young men and they are ready and raring to go for this 2014 championship.

“I can say that in Class Two we are very strong in that area, and the Class Three we are strong in that area as well. But I think we have overall strength in all classes and we just have to motivate ourselves and execute on the day,” he added.

Last year the famed ‘Purples’ were expected to seriously challenge Calabar, but faded on the final day to finish 52 points behind. Can they make up for that this year? Only time will tell.