Constantine Haughton - his final interview

The late Constantine Haughton didn't do too many interviews. He didn't need to, since his work spoke volumes. In a long career at Clarendon College and Vere Technical, 'Consie' taught a long list of champions, from World Indoor and Com-monwealth champion Sandie Richards at Clarendon, to young Shericka Jackson at Vere.

Fortunately, in a 2011 interview at Vere, Haughton spoke at length about an all-conquering Vere Tech season in the girls 4x400m. His responses revealed much about his viewpoint on his work and his life.

Yanique McNeil, Olivia James, Chantal Duncan and Shericka Jackson had set a new Jamaican high-school record of 3:33.17 to win the Champs gold medal. That was terrific, considering all their individual runs in the meet.

When asked about that, he said, "I train that way because you are entering a championship where it gets tougher as the rounds go by. So I'm expecting to deliver as you go along the way."

With Jackson and James having two years left at Vere at that point, he was guardedly optimistic. Sometimes things don't go according to the script," he reflected. But I'm just hoping that this will be a sweetener, and they will not become complacent and would really want to vie for great things.

His worry was unfounded. That run was the start of a three-year Vere streak that peaked with a record - 3:30.51 at Champs 2013.

The 2011 win gave Vere Technical ownership of Jamaican high-school records at 4x100m, 4x400m, 4x800m and the distance medley relay. Speaking quietly, he said, "Yes, it brings certain satisfaction. It's just that you are not getting people warming to the idea of trying to overhaul the 4x800m record."

Here and there, he agonised, "we had people, but you just can't sell them the work ethic for the event."

That insight showed how ambitious he was as a coach. The Consie-coached Vere 4x800m record isn't for the faint-hearted. It's the world junior record of 8:37.71 set at the 1991 Penn Relays by Charmaine Howell, Claudine Williams, Janice Turner and Inez Turner.

Inez, the 1994 Commonwealth 800m champion, Howell and Williams all ran for Jamaica in the Olympics. During Consie's time at Vere, dozens moved forward from the Hayes, Clarendon, school to perform for the nation at the highest level.

accomplishment

When asked what his secret was, he said, "I give my all to sports, even at my own personal cost," he said. "And when you put that kind of thing, I think ultimately you will get results. It might not be as often as you want it, but I think, being Christian-minded, you know God sees these things and knows these things and will respond in due time."

That approach yielded many successes for the man who discovered 1983 World 400m champion Bert Cameron at Spanish Town Secondary School. When asked about his best coaching accomplishment, he was hard-pressed.

In the end, the first name he cited was one that few would remember. It was 1988 Champs 5000m winner Christopher Miller.

"This is a man, who I remember moving from Clarendon College the year before, who said he almost stopped running because (Ernest) Barrett had almost lapped him in a 1500m," he remarked. And to think, in a year, I took this man and he was able to run 3.59."

Now head coach at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Ernest Barrett, was one of the champions coached by Haughton at Clarendon.

His final words in that 2011 interview concerned Jackson.

At the time, track fans felt Jackson, James, Holmwood's Chris-Ann Gordon and Ristananna Tracey, then at Edwin Allen, might challenge the world junior 4x400m record at the Pan-Am Junior Championships.

"It might not pan out that way because, at the moment," he explained. "I'm not preparing Shericka Jackson to really run anymore 400m per se for the rest of the season. She likes to sprint and to deny her, that's one of the real problems I'm having, trying to get her to really recognise her real ability in the 400m because she can do so well in the 200m."

Shericka has continued to do well in both the 200m and the 400m. This year, she has run 22.84 and 51.60 seconds, respectively in each event. These super times came fittingly in the last days of a life, the life of Constantine Haughton, committed to excellence.

Hubert Lawrence has been making notes at trackside since 1980.