Walker running the show at Hydel-Cumberland

Carlon Pitt, principal of Hydel-Cumberland High School, says 2008 Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion Melaine Walker has been guiding the school’s track and field programme while negotiations are ongoing with veteran coach Corey Bennett and the Ministry of Education.

Walker, who was a physical education teacher at Hydel High for a number of years, has moved over to the Portmore-based institution following the merger of both schools by the Ministry of Education this month.

Pitt said Walker has been assisting the athletes in their background training in her role as a physical education teacher, and as such, no coaching contract arrangement has been put in place for her as yet.

“She is employed at Hydel-Cumberland as a physical education teacher because, you know, under the Child Care and Protection Act, we cannot leave the students unsupervised. So while the students are out there doing the strength and conditioning work, it is done under her supervision,” Pitt explained.

“It is an informal arrangement because she is not yet engaged as part of the coaching staff, so we don’t have any arrangements with her in that regard. But as a physical education teacher, she goes out there and ensures that the students are okay.”

Pitt noted that Walker, who also won a gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 2009 World Athletics Championships, is also helping to inspire athletes at the school.

“It is a win-win situation just to have Melaine in the space ... Melaine knows what it is like to prepare for Girls’ Championships. She has been there. She was a fierce competitor at Champs, and she went through the ranks and represented the country at the highest level,” he said.

“She is a gold medallist at the Olympics and at the World Championships. So what better person to help and to motivate and to inspire these athletes more than someone who has been there, done that,” Pitt pointed out.

He also underscored that most of the Hydel team, which finished runners-up to Edwin Allen High School at this year’s ISSA/GraceKennedy Girls’ Championships in March, are now attending the institution.

“The core of the track team that was at Hydel has come over, and the students are still in touch with Mr Bennett, and he still has their interest at heart, but I know he is in discussions with persons at the Ministry of Education, and as soon as those discussions are finished, I am sure that the ministry will give me something to say definitively,” Pitt said.