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.