GIRL’S REVIEW ISSA/GRACE BOYS AND GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP 2014- PART II

Edwin Allen copped their second title in three years compiling 337.50 ahead of  St. Jago (which won the last four championship titles towards the beginning of the new Millennium rebounded to the upper echelon of the championship) placing second with 263, Hydel(229) bagged third certainly cementing themselves as a major tour de force in Jamaican High school athletics, while dethroned defending champions  Holmwood slip from  the upper Über,  placing fourth with 211.50 and many time champions Vere 141 rounding out the top five.

  

                                             

                             Eubanks copped the 800/1500m double in fine style

Leading the charge for the Frankfield based team was a star-studded class 1 team which include outgoing seniors Marlena Eubank, Christania Williams, Monique Spencer and Rochelle Frazer. 

Eubanks dominated the competition winning the Class 1 800/1500m double posting 2:06.51 and 4:32.90 respectively.

                                                

                  Williams(292) Crosses the finish in the class 1 girl's 100m final

Williams hampered by injury for the last two seasons signalled her return by posting a swift 11.19s handily dismissing Wolmerian Jonielle Smith’s 11.32s and teammate Monique Spencer’s 11.46s in the class 1 girls 100m. A world youth bronze medallist over the same event, Williams’ time was the second fastest time ever recorded over 100m at champs just shy of Olympic Champion Veronica Campbell Brown 11.13s record established in 2001.

Smith of Wolmers won the 200m in 23.49s from Edwin Allen’s Saqukine Cameron (23.54s) and Holmwood’s Sashalee Forbes (23.65s).

                                            

                            Frazer in record mood in Girl's class 1 Shot Put Final   

Frazer placed second in the discus class 1 with a throw of 47.50m, but came on a mission Saturday afternoon breaking the Shot Put class 1 record, round after round heaving to a career best and new record of 13.70m.

                                                  

                           Allen soars in Girls' Long Jump Action

Claudette Allen won the Long Jump with a personal best of 6.45m and joined Williams, Cameron and Spencer to smash the 4x100m record of 44.26s set by Holmwood Technical to 44.18s.

Among the other winners for the blue and white ensemble squad were Shellece Clarke (11.79s-Class 3 100m), Paula-Ann Gayle (44.47m-Class 2 Discus), Janell Fullerton (15.02m-Class 2 Shot put) and Annia Ashley (5.62m-class 3 long jump).

Edwin Allen won the girls open sprint medley setting a new record of 4:00.47 to break Holmwood’s 4:01.24 and ended the championship in fine style, winning the final event of the night, the girl’s 4x400m open. The winning quartet of Cameron (54.5s), Spencer (52.8s), Eubanks (53.6s) and Camira Haughton (55.1s) won in 3:35.70s.

                                          

                                      Williams punches the air in victory

St. Jago had their fair showing at the championship, Genekee Leith (58.20s) won the 400m hurdles open, Peta-gaye Williams (13.81s) won the 100m hurdles for class 1 girls over World Youth champion Holmwood’s Yonique Thompson (13.95s), unfortunately both suffered injuries during the latter half of the race.

Natalyah Whyte won the class 2 girls 200m finals (24.30) ahead of teammate Shanice Lee (24.45s), and both earlier copped silver and bronze, respectively, in the blue ribbon event and teamed up to ensure victory in the 4x100m in 45.51s.

Mellica Grant (10.49s) broke Manchester’s Tulia Robinson’s (10.50s) 21 year old record winning the class 4 girls 70m low hurdles ahead of teammate Kimeone McLeod (10.64s). They also instrumental in St. Jago’s record breaking class 4 4x100m team which posted 47.28s.

                                             

                           Moncrieffe in action the Girls' Triple Jump Open Final

Holmwood Technical’s  horizontal jumper  Tamara Moncrieffe 13.51m won the Girls open triple jump final pushing her to number five on the Jamaican all time listing.

                                               

                  McNeil turns the table on Loney in the Girls' Class 1 400m

An interesting rematch was in the class 1 girls 400m where Vere’s Yanique McNeil (52.88s) edge Balaclavia’s Dawnalee Loney (52.91s) avenging her recent defeat at the Carifta Trials earlier this month. Petersfield red hot Asaine Hall but well overworked placed third in 53.25s.

                                                  

                                           Salmon in High Jump action

Hydel had stars all over, including record breaker in the class 3 high jump Shiann Salmon clearing 1.78m, eclipsing  Holmwood’s Janeieve Russell’s record of 1.77m. Shadae Lawrence (48.06m) won the Class 1 girls discus. Shaneil English won the 200m 

class 3 in 24.31 and was instrumental on the record breaking 4x100m team which posted 45.33s eclipsing their previous record of 45.56s;  Shade Parr with leap a of 5.45 won the class 4 girls’ long jump.

Other double winners at the championship includes: Alpha’s speedball Kiara Grant registering 11.98s and 25.05s respectively over the 100m and 200m in class four battling negligible headwind; Shanieke Watson of Holmwood in the  3000M (10.22.07) and the 2000m Steeple Chase Open (7:17.41); Brittanie Dixon of Vere in the class 3 800/1500m posting 2:12.73 and 4:49.08 respectively and Manchester High’s Annastacia Forrester (6.30m) and (1.75m) over both horizontal and vertical jumps.

BOY’S REVIEW- ISSA/GRACE BOYS AND GIRLS CHAMPS PART I

When the dust was settled, Calabar, “Rablac” unleashed its venom and annihilated the oppression, taking the Mortimer Geddes Trophy back to Red Hills Road. The green and black squad amassed 305 points with arch-rival  Kingston College “Fortis” next with 208.5; Jamaica College 190, St. Jago High 158.50 and Western Kingpins St. Elizabeth Technical High School(STETHS) 123 rounding out the top five.

Approximately 21 records were accounted for leaving the spectators over the five days well delighted, especially the sold-out 35,000 stands on the final night of competition.

 Rabalac’s heavy “guns” Tyreke Wilson, Christopher Taylor and Dejour Russell set tongues wagging in class 3.

                                   Tyreke Wilson Celebrates his 200m record!

Wilson was simply astonishing, despite having to deal with negligible headwinds while copping the sprint double. In the 100meters (m), he posted 10.91seconds (s) into a -1.9 meters per second (mps) headwind, while compatriot Russell placing second in 10.96s. Wilson having blazed 21.90s (-1.1mps) in the semifinals of the 200m rose the bar to another notch producing a staggering 21.74s(-2.7mps) in Saturday’s final,  en route to breaking Fortis’ Jhevaughn Mattherson one year 200m mark of 21.87s. So astonishing was Wilson’s performance that his teammate Christopher Taylor was a whopping 0.50 seconds behind to take second place.

                                            

                                     Christopher Taylor in action

Taylor broke the 400m record of 49.17s set in 2013 by KC’s Nathaniel Bann, in the prelim of the 400m, to an amazing 48.71s; becoming the first class 3 male athlete in the history of champs to break the 49-seconds barrier. Taylor was affected by the flu but still recorded his third fastest time of 48.80s in the finals to cement his dominance over the event with teammate Brandon Heath second in 50.50s.

                                              

                                   Sprinter/hurdler/jumper Dejour Russell

Russell who had earlier won silver in the long jump returned to win the 100m hurdles in 13.32s battling strong headwind and would later collaborate with teammates Wilson, Taylor and Heath to demolished the 4x100m record becoming the first class 3 quartet in champs history to run sub-42 posting an eye-popping 41.81s.

                                            

                                    Silky smooth Jhevaughn Mattherson

At only 15 years of age, Kingston College’s Jhevaughn Mattherson will definitely have to wear sunshade, this young athlete’s future looks extremely bright! The silky smooth sprinter held his own in the absence of his injured teammate Akeem Bloomfield. Mattherson first placed second in the class 2 100m  in 10.37s behind St. Jago’s speedball, Raheem Chambers(10.29s) a record eclipsing World 100m champion Yohan Blake’s 10.34s. Shockingly, Mattherson a first year class 2 athlete,  was just 0.03 seconds shy of that old mark, but the nippy youngster returned to dismiss Chambers’ over 200m showing his pedigree; winning in 20.97s and then pilot his team to victory over the 4x100m in 40.93s.

Fortis had a quinella in the 400m class 2  lead by Dontre’d Williams (47.94s) and the highly favoured Nathaniel Bann 48.01s (who changed his race tactics having witnessed his class 3 record being eradicated) with Calabar’s Anthony Carpenter(48.21s) placing third.

Shammawi Wellington leaped 7.16 meters (m), to mine gold for KC in the class 2 boy’s long jump finals.

Over middle distance, Western Champions STETHS’ Jauavney James copped the 800m/1500m double posting 1:53.43 and 4:04.85 respectively.

Warren Barrett jnr, son of former national football representative and former football coach of the national senior team Warren Barrett, won double gold medals in the shot put 18.18m and discus 50.90m class 2. While Calabar’s Javier Lowe won the class 2 triple jump with a wind-aided leap of 14.75m.

                                                   

                                  Hughes and Minzie produce an epic 100m finale

The Class1 sprints lived up to its billing, but not without drama. Rabalac’s Michael O’Hara false started in his semifinal heat leaving Fortis’ Zharnel Hughes and Bog Walk’s Jevaughn Minzie to fight for the blue ribbon event.

Hughes, a native Anguillan coached by Patrick Dawson out of the Glenn Mills camp (which includes Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Warren Weir) obliterated Blake’s class 1 100m record of 10.24s recording 10.12s. Hughes the reigning Carifta and Pan Am Junior champ was hard pressed by Minzie (10.16s) to the line. Minzie’s performance pushed him to jointed number 2 on the all-time Jamaica Junior listing, alongside Dexter Lee.

Hughes had recorded 20.33s in his 200m semifinal but was pulled from the finals of that event has a pre-caution following a niggling hamstring that seemed to resurface following the 100m finals.

                                       

                                     Minzie celebrates his 200m victory

In Hughes absence, Minzie finally land gold posting 20.50s (having recorded 20.37s in his semifinal heat becoming the second fastest Jamaican Junior of all time) dismissing World youth champions over 400m and 200m St. Jago’s Martin Manley (20.73s) and Calabar’s Michael O’Hara (20.86s) respectively into second and third.

                                              

                                      Crown-prince of Jamaica 400m Javon Francis

Calabar would not be out done however, as World relay silver medallist Javon Francis showed his superiority, breaking Usain Bolt’s 400m eleven year old record of 45.35s to a jaw-dropping 45.00s. St. Jago’s Nathan Allen 46.16s and Manchester’s Lennox Williams 46.48s won the minor medals.

O’Hara, gained his redemption and in the absence of Francis (who re-aggravated his hamstring injury in the 200m finals) ran a blistering back-stretch on Calabar’s victorious 4x100m relay team which ran a scorching High school record of 39.35s, breaking the class 1 record set by St. Jago of 39.78s done back in ‘07(which includes star performers Blake and Nickel Ashemede). Jamaica College’s 39.69s also dipped under the old mark with the present St. Jago quartet third in 39.86s.

Rabalac were dominant in Class 1 winning the Boy's Discus (Basil Bingham-60.59m) and Shot Put (Christopher Brown -16.91m), while Rajay Hamilton copped the 800/1500m double posting 1:51.41 and 3:58.30 respectively. 

                                        

                                                        Mutli-talented Jaheel Hyde

The performance of the championship was produced by the Wolmerian marksman; Jaheel Hyde, who decimated the national Junior record in the boys 400m hurdles. The World Youth 110m hurdles gold medallist blazed 49.49s, dismantling Omar McLeod’s one year old record of 49.98s.  The shocker behind Hyde’s story is that it is his first season officially competing in the one lap obstacle barrier event. Hyde returned Saturday afternoon running against horrendous headwind to win gold in the 110m hurdles class 1 in a career best 13.53s, despite being accidentally slapped in the face and having an atrocious start.

                                             

                              Bryan cleared  a World junior leading height 2.23m

Hyde’s compatriot Christoffe Byran, who failed to clear a height at the Carifta Trials two weeks back, broke his own record in the class 1 boy’s vertical jump, soaring- a world leading 2.23m making him the joint number 2 on the Jamaican all-time junior listing, alongside Desmond Morris.

Jamaica College won the quinella in the boys class one Triple Jump through Clayton Brown (15.68m) and Obrien Wasome (15.60m).

Other records among the boys included, Devon Spencer of STETHS (64.08m) in the boys open Javelin, Obrien Firth (5:59.70) of Holmwood in the boys’ 2000m open steeplechase; Excelsior’s Maurice Harrison broke the boys open Decathlon record amassing 6471 erasing Adrain Riley's 6733 established in 2013 and KC relay quartet in the Sprint Medley posted 3:25.78.

Finally, the boys from St. Jago broke the 4x400m record, the quartet of Ivan Henry (47.1s) Martin Manley (45.8s), Shavarn Barnes (48.6s) and Nathan Allen (46.8s) posted 3:08.31 erasing the previous record of 3:09.21s set in 2013  by Munro College.