BECKFORD...I had to come out here and lead by example.
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Edwin Allen’s Tonyan Beckford and the Excelsior High pair of Demarco Bennett and Daniel Wright all produced breathtaking performances to win their respective 400m hurdles titles to bring the curtains down on Friday’s third day of the 113th ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium.
Wright, who was sixth in the boys’ Class one event last year, bided his time throughout the event on this occasion, before producing a late burst in the stretch to win in a dazzling personal best 50.71s. He edged the Kingston College pair of Antonio Forbes (50.74s) and Shamari Jennings (50.83s).
Prior to that, Bennett proved too good for rivals in the boys’ Class two event, as he ran away an easy winner in 51.70s, ahead of Calabar’s Robert Miller (52.63s) and Taj-Oneil Gordon (52.35s) of Kingston College.
Meanwhile, in the girls’ Open event, Beckford, running from lane five, went out and a decent pace and basically covered the field on the backstretch before sprinting away from rivals off the curve to win in a brisk 56.70 seconds.
She led a one-two finish for the Frankfield-based Edwin Allen, as her teammate Natasha Fox (57.94s) was second, with Aaliyah Mullings (58.96s) of Hydel in third.
“The inspiration behind it is that I want my team to win and as you can see, I am the captain, so I have to come out here and lead by example,” Beckford said after the win.
Following those events, Edwin Allen surged to 184 points, 43 points ahead of reigning champions Hydel (141 points), while St Jago (81 points), Immaculate Conception (70.33 points) and Holmwood Technical (57 points), complete the top five.
On the boys’ side, Kingston College moved to 169 points, 36 points ahead of Jamaica College (133 points), with Calabar High (84 points), St Jago (74 points) and Excelsior (60 points) rounding out the top five heading into Saturday’s final day.
Hibbert produces world leading 17.75m to take top spot at Racers Grand Prix
World Under-20 record holder Jaydon Hibbert produced a world leading 17.75m to win the triple jump at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Hibbert opened his competition with 16.45m in the first round before going out to 17.14m in the second round, giving the National Stadium crowd a sign of things to come.
The third round saw him produce a then-meet record of 17.30m before, in round four, he produced a stadium record and world leading 17.75m to secure the victory.
O’Brien Wasome produced 16.64m for second while Jordan Scott was third with 16.06m.
“I was satisfied with the third and fourth jump of the series,” Hibbert said after the competition.
Seville outduels Lyles to claim 100m title at Racers Grand Prix; Alfred runs personal best to claim title in women’s equivalent
Oblique Seville and Julien Alfred produced a pair of scintillating performances to claim the 100m titles at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Seville produced a personal best and world leading 9.82 to claim the men’s race ahead of American World champion Noah Lyles and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala.
Lyles’s time in second was a season’s best 9.85 while Omanyala ran 10.02 in third.
“I came out here in front of my Jamaican fans looking for a personal best and to get it today means a lot to me,” Seville said after the race.
“I just came out here to deliver. You’re always going to have ups and downs with the wind but you just have to run through it,” he added.
“As long as I’m healthy, expect good things,” was Seville’s response when asked about what fans can expect from him at Jamaica’s Olympic trials set for June 27-30.
In the women’s equivalent, St. Lucian World Indoor champion Julien Alfred sped to a personal best and meet record 10.78 to win ahead of Krystal Sloley who broke 11 seconds for the first time with 10.99 in second and Shashalee Forbes who ran a season’s best 11.05 in third.
Alfred says she didn’t expect to run that fast.
“I wanted to come out here and just work on execution. I didn’t expect that time and that’s why I was smiling so much,” she said.
Smikle produces 65.65m to win discus throw at Racers Grand Prix
Reigning Jamaican national champion Traves Smikle took the win in the men’s discus throw at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Smikle, a five-time national champion, produced 65.65m to win ahead of Samoa’s Alex Rose who threw 65.02m and American Reggie Jagers III who threw 64.64m.
Despite the win, Smikle admitted that his performance wasn’t up to his usual world class standards.
“I wasn’t my best today based on my standard and how I know I am but, at the same time, I’m in a competition where I have to go out there and do it, I’m competing against some of the best in the world and I am in my home town so I had to deliver,” Smikle said.
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