Like Head Coach Corey Bennett, principal of Hydel High Dr Walton Small believes their Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Girls’ Athletics Championships win was destined to come at this appointed time to assist in the school’s recovery process from a series of misfortunes.

In fact, while celebrating the triumph, Small spent much of Monday’s special devotion paying homage to Hyacinth Bennett, the founder/president of Hydel Group of Schools, reiterating that the philosophy at the institution was to drive academic and extra-curricular programmes through deep-rooted religious values and beliefs.

Hydel girls, who have been consistently knocking at the door over the years and were always expected to be in a ding-dong battle with Edwin Allen, tallied 279 points to deny their rivals a ninth-straight title and 10th overall by two points.

This historic feat aptly coincides with their 30th anniversary celebration.

Small led the activities in a party-like atmosphere, which included a march to and from the nearby police station, as students danced to popular contemporary music. The vibe described the remarkable achievement, one which has been long in the making.

“It is awesome, it is unbelievable, it was destiny. Just like it was destiny at Champs 100 with Wolmer’s Boys’, it’s destiny now. Both are sweet alike because Wolmer’s was Champs 100 and this one is our 30th celebration,” Small, said as he alluded to the Heroes’ Circle-located school’s win in 2010 when he was principal at that institution.

The headmaster explained that, much like Bennett’s, his task was to promote the holistic development of children and, as such, required sustainable support to ensure Hydel’s system was worthy of those who step foot on the compound located off the Mandela Highway.

“One of the things that makes this important for me here at Hydel is Dr Hyacinth Bennett. She had a vision to provide education for students who weren’t able to make it to traditional high schools and over the past few years, the coronavirus pandemic and the fire that burnt out the administrative building have put a dent in the efforts of how we can go forward,” Small told the Jamaica Observer.

He continued: “So I think this is significant, I think we won to bring attention to us, so that corporate Jamaica and the Government of Jamaica can come in and assist us in ensuring that the vision of our founding mother to promote the holistic development of the children is brought to fruition. She was once a senator of this country, so she has given service and I think we are at a stage now where we need support.

“So they can come in and assist us, we can do it, we are doing it with bare bones, but we need assistance to get even further. So again, I think it’s significant that we won Champs and I am using this platform to ask the Government and corporate Jamaica, come assist us, let us have this as a centre of excellence for students who can’t function in other schools. We will take care of them because of the vision of the founding mother and we want support.”

Loud cheers rang out when the athletes and Head Coach Corey Bennett took the stage.

After attempting a few dance moves to Vybz Kartel and Popcaan’s hit collab Clarks, Bennett declared that victory was testament to their growth and dedication, the school having only started competing at Champs in 2010 with a mere four athletes.

Still with a small group of 34 athletes, Hydel was led by performances from Alana Reid, who secured the Class One sprint double, including clocking the national junior record 10.92s in the 100m; Captain Oneika McAnnuff, who successful retained her 400m hurdles title, and Kaydeen Johnson, who topped the 2,000m steeplechase despite a fall and the 3,000m event, which placed the championship beyond doubt.

“I remember when a particular coach came to me and said, ‘Bennett, you are wasting your time, man, you won’t survive because this is big people Champs’. In 2010 we came 11th with four Class Four girls and two years later we came fifth scoring over 100 points for the first time,” he said.

“And after that we got a few second- and third-place finishes. We were even told that we worse won’t win this year and we were only good for fourth. And even though we don’t run down position, we did it. Even when we thought we couldn’t we did. So God is good,” Bennett added to loud cheers.

Shiann Salmon, Shadae Lawrence, Ashanti Moore, Garriel White, Kerrica Hill, Brianna Lyston, and Charokee Young are some of the top names to have passed through Hydel, and McAnnuff, who was in her final year, is set to join the ranks.

“While at Hydel I didn’t only learn to run fast or hurdle well, I was taught that I was a student before an athlete. Every year, our student athletes receive scholarships to universities both locally and overseas and now, after 13 years of hard work, trials and tribulations, a few individuals who started this movement can finally reap the success of their work,” McAnnuff stated.

“The road to this victory has been bittersweet because in 2019 we lost by seven points which was gut-wrenching. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. We have been faithful, we have put in the work and our coach has never placed pressure on us to win the championship, but he believes we must produce quality performance, and we did just that,” she said.

The school received $500,000 from title sponsor GraceKennedy, with another $500,000 coming from Ideal Group of Companies.

School Chairman Ryan Foster gifted the triumphant girls’ team $250,000, and also singled out the outstanding Johnson for her exploits, offering a $50,000 award.