As the old British Army adage goes, “Proper preparation and planning prevents poor performance, but, above all, remember to just go out and enjoy whatever event you have signed yourself up for”.

This has been Monique Stewart’s mantra coming into what she expected to be another competitive season.

But unlike last, year when she lacked the experience and some would say the quality of her rivals, the Edwin Allen athlete was now on top of her game for this 113th edition of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships.

Stewart, who was bitterly disappointed by her 11th and eighth place finishes in the girls’ Class Two 1,500m and 800m finals last year, buried herself in training as she vowed to right those wrongs, and that she did.

The 17-year-old not only topped the 1,500m in 4:41.43, but returned on Saturday’s final day of the five-day showpiece to win the half-mile event in a flat 2:11.00.

Like she did in the 1,500m, Stewart again staved off the challenge of Holmwood Technical’s Cindy Rose (2:11.67) with Kitania Headley (2:11.73) of St Catherine taking bronze.

“I often hear people say that if you fail to prepare then you should prepare to fail, so after last year, not that I wasn’t prepared, but things didn’t go as I expected,” Stewart told the Jamaica Observer.

“So for this year, I was determined to do much better and so even when training got tough sometimes, I told myself that I had to keep going and keep pushing for what I want. So I am feeling very good knowing that I have put in the work and was able to come out here and fight to the line,” she added.

Though it is mission accomplished for Stewart, the second-year Class Two athlete believed she had more to give in the 1,500m in particular and, as such, pointed out that she will not rest on her laurels, especially with a transition to Class One to come.

“I think I have achieved what I came here for, I believe I could have ran a better time in the 1,500m, but I am still grateful and I have to thank God for giving me the strength to do this because like you said, it was pretty competitive so I am grateful,” the soft-spoken athlete shared.

“But I know this is just the beginning, I still have some ways to go and so the aim is to keep going and keep pushing because no matter what you achieved today, there is always room for more improvements and that is where my mindset is,” Stewart noted.

Reflecting on the performances, Stewart, who often paces her race to perfection, made a bold move with 150m to go in the 800m, leaving Rose to play catch up.

“It’s a tough double but again it is something I have been training for; I knew they were going to come so I just dropped my hands and kept swinging. I reflected on training where I did some sprint work, so I just dropped my hand and it was enough to give me the victory,” she said.

At the end of that 800m run, Edwin Allen were ahead of rivals Hydel by 16 points, and on course to securing their ninth-straight girls’ championship honours and 10th overall.

“We are in a good position which is great and I know my other teammates are inspired to come out and fight to the end no matter what the challenge is because we have put in the work and we have done the training so we can come out here and get the job done,” Stewart ended.