There he was sitting relaxed on a chair at the back of the stage.

Calabar High School head coach Michael Clarke had a serious look on his face as he watched his boys stroll onto the stage and into the limelight to be recognised as champions yet again.

It wasn’t a look of consternation, but one of utter satisfaction.

Clarke only days before had led his alma mater to their fifth-consecutive ISSA GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships title, and had the look of a doting father during the school’s devotion on Monday.

Calabar amassed 287.50 points and had behind them their fierce rivals Kingston College on 238 with Jamaica College third with 229 points.

But despite Calabar’s nearly 50-point margin of victory, Clarke revealed it wasn’t a stroll in the park. It was far from easy.

“It was tense, very eventful, exciting, full of emotions, seeing that we got off to a bad start. But we ended with a crescendo, so that’s good and I guess we are all happy now,” Clarke told the Jamaica Observer.

Perennially, Calabar are always slow out of the blocks in the five-day event, but always make their surge on Saturday’s final day, and for the last five years, it has been a winning surge.

“I don’t know if we tried our best to fix all the possible loopholes that we envisaged,” said Clarke, speaking to why his school tends to trail others on the first three or four days of competition.

“But I guess that’s the mystery and excitement of sports. You can’t plan for everything, the unpredictables. So it makes it very exciting and satisfying, especially when you win,” he noted.

On the opening day, reports surfaced that Class Three athlete Kevroy Venson had influenza and he failed to make the final of the 800m in an event he had dominated all season.

“After the first two days, anybody human would worry. But I know that we had an all-round team, so I waited for the all-round part of it to chip in, which it did and the rest is history,” Clarke said with a sly smile on his face.

Clarke, who started coaching approximately 31 years ago in 1985, is the most successful high school coach with 15 titles under his belt. He has won seven titles each with Calabar and JC and gave St Jago High their first championship in 1987.

“I am feeling humbled by the blessing. It’s my passion, my hobby, so I will just continue to give thanks to the Almighty and thanks for His mercy and blessings,” said Clarke.

After graduating from GC Foster College, Clarke’s first coaching job was at St Jago High. After two years, he brought them victory.

He moved on to JC and won the first of his seven titles with the Dark Blues in 1991 ending a 32-year drought. He had further victories in 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

KC would interrupt his winning streak with triumphs from 2001-2006, but he would end the Purple’s six-year winning run with victory for Calabar in 2007 and followed up with further wins in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

“This thing is getting harder and harder,” said Clarke. “But I will continue as long as I have good health and I am able to do what I can do,” he noted.

Calabar is set to lose four to five athletes for next season, but the astute Clarke has already moved to head off any serious impact and is confident that his team will be strong next year.

“We planned for this year three years ago, so we normally plan three years in advance. That’s the plan,” he explained.