Press Release
The Nevis Amateur Athletic Association (NAAA) in conjunction with the Ministry of Education issues the following Press Release pertaining to the 2013 Gulf Insurance Primary Schools Championships held on Wednesday 3rd April 2013 at the Elquemedo Willett Park, Charlestown, Nevis.
As is the usual practice, the 2013 meet results were reviewed in its entirety after the meet to confirm the accuracy of the final scores and the positions of athletes for each event. This process used the photo-finish information (which provides the official places and times), the manual results from the judges and timers (which provide backup places and times) and video taken at the meet. This process was conducted on Monday afternoon, 8th April by the Meet Secretariat Manager and other officials and an Association representative.
The comprehensive and exhaustive process involved checking and comparing all data available for all the races to confirm or correct the meet results. The process took over five (5) hours using computer hardware and software (Finish Lynx for the Photo-finish results and Meet Manager for the documentation and scoring) while comparing them to the manually compiled information. A report was drafted as a result of the review and was vetted by a panel of officials on Wednesday morning, 10th April and the recommendations of the review group were approved.
It should be noted that there was adequate transparency provided by the Meet Management system and redundancy measures used at the meet. This transparency is enhanced by having multiple officials attend the various meet functions and the provision of real time results and photo-finish images provided through the meet website at www.nevispsc.com, which was available to the teams on meet day and to any one with internet access, during and after the meet.
As a result of the review process, a St. Thomas Primary School athlete was awarded 5th place in Event #4, 400m Class II, after having been disqualified in the event for marginally running out of his lane. The decision was made in light of an agreement made at a Technical meeting with the School representatives prior to the meet regarding infractions and took consideration of several factors including the marginal infraction, the age level of the meet and the non-notification to the team regarding the disqualification, who therefore had no opportunity to request a review. Further, Mr. James Kelly, the International Track & Field Technical official and Meet Referee, who was involved in the initial decision agreed with the athlete being reinstated, when consulted.
St. Thomas Primary School was thus awarded an additional point, which resulted in a tie with the Charlestown Primary School for Overall Champions. Other results were corrected based on the review which altered the scores for some of the other participating schools. The decision was communicated to the Principals of the Charlestown and St. Thomas Primary Schools late Wednesday afternoon in a meeting at the Department of Education with the Permanent Secretary of Education and Library Services and the Competition Director & President of the Nevis Amateur Athletic Association. Other school principals are being informed today.
All schools performed exceptionally well during the entire meet and given the situation which came to light in the review, the decisions made were the fairest way to resolve the findings. A similar Division “A” Champion’s trophy would be awarded to the St. Thomas Primary School at the earliest opportunity and the annual trophy will be shared between the two schools for six month periods. Joycelyn Liburd Primary will assume the Runner-up position in Division “A”. Any effect on class champions etc. will be addressed.
A number of other recommendations were drafted during the evaluation process and the subsequent meeting and will be applied to the 2014 event. Other recommendations will be derived from postmortem sessions to be held over the next few weeks.
The final scores are therefore as follows:
Rank School Code Pts. Adjusted Classification
1st CHARLESTOWN PRIMARY CPS 200 (Joint Division “A” Champions)
1st ST. THOMAS’ PRIMARY SCHOOL STPS 200 (+1) (Joint Division “A” Champions)
3rd JOYCELYN LIBURD PRIMARY JLPS 143 (+1) (Runner-up Division “A”)
4th IVOR WALTERS PRIMARY IWPS 87 (+2)
5th ELIZABETH PEMBERTON PRIMARY EPPS 81 (Division “B” Champions)
6th ST. JAMES’ PRIMARY SCHOOL JAMS 57 (-2) (Runner-up Division “B”)
7th MAUDE CROSSE PREP SCHOOL MCPS 50
8th VIOLET O. J. NICHOLLS PRIMARY VOJN 48 (-2)
The Association & the Ministry of Education thanks the general public for their patience and understanding as the review process was conducted and intends to strengthen processes and procedures in 2014.