Cedricka Williams set a massive new record in the Class I Girls discus competition.
On a historic second day of the 2023 ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships when Jamaica witnessed a Jamaican schoolboy break 10 seconds in the 100m and a schoolgirl ran under 11 seconds in the blue-ribbon event, another two records were broken on what proved to a thrilling days of performances.
Chief among them was Holmwood Technical’s Cedricka Williams, who broke the Class 1 Girls discuss throw with a new mark of 57.84m. It was the third time that the record was being broken during the championships.
During the preliminaries on Tuesday, Williams threw 53.22m to break former Edwin Allen standout Fiona Richards' record of 53.04m that was set in 2017. The record did last long as St Jago’s Abigail Martin a new mark of 55.19m to set up an interesting duel between the two in the final.
However, Martin was unable to surpass her preliminary round effort, throwing 53.81m in the final as Williams reigned supreme.
Camperdown High School’s Britannia was also over 50m taking the bronze medal with a throw of 50.69m.
Kimeka Smith of St Jago High School won the Girls Class II shot put with an impressive mark of 15.82m. Hydel High School’s Natassia Burrell won the silver with a throw of 15.55m. Able Mills of St Catherine High won the bronze medal with her best throw of 15.27m.
Uroy Ryan of Jamaica College leapt 7.42m to win the Class 1 Boys long jump, a mere six centimetres ahead of Demario Prince of St Jago High, whose best jump of 7.36m was good enough for the silver medal.
Trevon Hamer of Jamaica College won the bronze medal with his effort of 7.11.
Jamaica College also won the Class II Boys long jump as Michael Anderson soared out to 7.29m. It was a 1-2 finish for the school from Old Hope Road in Kingston as Euan Young won silver with a leap of 7.03m. Anthony Hall of B.B. Coke High jumped 6.95m to win the bronze medal.
On the track, Ainsley Campbell of Kingston College won the Class 1 Boys 1500m in 4:02.63 over Carlando Chambers of St Jago High, who crossed the finish line in 4:04.16 while Jamaica College’s Kemarrio Bygrave was third in 4:05.26.
The other record to fall on Wednesday was Natoya Goule’s 13-year-old Class 1 Girls 1500m standard off 4:29.42 that was broken by Holmwood Technical’s Jodyann Mitchell, who ran 4:29.42 to win the gold medal.
Kishay Rowe of Alphansus Davis took the silver in 4:30.29. Danielle King of Hydel claimed the final podium spot when she crossed the finish line in 4:35.57.
The Boys Class II 1500m final was won by Brian Kiprop in a Kingston College 1-2 finish. Kiprop ran 4:07.46 just ahead of his teammate Nahashon Ruto (4:07.64). Yoshane Bowen of Magotty High School won the bronze running 4:11.52.
In a stirring finish in the Class II Girls 1500m, which saw the first two competitors cross the line together, Edwin Allen’s Monique Stewart came from behind to nip Holmwood Technical’s Cindy Rose. Both were credited with 4:41.43 but the photo-finish determined that Stewart had won by 0.01 seconds ahead of her rival.
Misha-Jade Samuel of St. Jago High was third in 4:53.53.
Carlos Brison-Caines of Calabar High ran 4:18.18 to win the Class III Boys 1500m holding off a stern challenge from Jayden Brown of Maggotty High, who ran 4:18.26 for the silver medal. Yohance Carty Jamaica College finished third in 4:33.88.
The Class III Girls race was won by Alikay Reynolds of Alphansus Davies. She ran 4:46.36 and was a comfortable winner over Kededra Coombs of St. Jago High, who ran 4:49.07 for the silver medal. Her teammate Tabbrel Williams was third in 4:49.42.
Record-breaking Jaydon Hibbert wins SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year and Field Athlete of the Year awards
Jaydon Hibbert continues to rack up accolades in only his first year at the University of Arkansas. On Wednesday, the record-breaking Jamaican was named SEC Outdoor Freshman Field Athlete of the Year and Field Athlete of the Year.
He becomes the first freshman to claim both field event honors since Mondo Duplantis of LSU in 2019.
The previous Razorback to sweep both awards was pole vaulter Andrew Irwin in 2009.
Other Arkansas Freshman Field Athlete of the Year include jumpers Nkosina Balumbu in 2006 and Tarik Batchelor in 2009. Razorbacks named Field Athlete of the Year include jumper Alain Bailey in 2009 and decathlete Ayden Owens-Delerme in 2022.
Hibbert, who also claimed the SEC Indoor Freshman of the Year accolade, broke the triple jump collegiate record by nearly 0.3m in winning the SEC Outdoor title on his second attempt in the competition.
The former Kingston College athlete’s mark of 17.87m bettered the field by more than a metre while his opening round effort of 17.02m would also have claimed the victory. In addition to breaking multiple records, four of which were set in the 1980s, Hibbert moves to equal 13th on the all-time world list, matching the career best mark by Olympic gold medallist Mike Conley from 1987.
Hibbert is the Number 2 performer with the Number 2 performance on the Jamaican all-time list, trailing only the 17.92m by James Beckford from the 1995 NJCAA Championships in Odessa, Texas.
On the Arkansas all-time list, Hibbert surpassed two of Conley’s marks that were both set in winning the 1985 NCAA title in Austin, Texas. A wind-assisted 17.71m and a wind-legal 17.54m.
His awards were among five titles won by the University of Arkansas.
Coach of the Year went to Chis Bucknam, Jaydon Hibbert collected a pair of awards – Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman Field Athlete of the Year – while Ben Shearer was named co-Freshman Runner of the Year.
Coach of the Year went to Chis Bucknam, Ben Shearer was named co-Freshman Runner of the Year and Ayden Owens-Delerme was named Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Ja's sprint legend Usain Bolt eager for World Athletics role to impact track and field
Jamaica’s Sprint Legend Usain Bolt says he remains eager to play another impactful role in track and field’s growth and, as such, is awaiting a position from World Athletics to hit the ground running.
The 36-year-old, who shot to fame by winning eight Olympic titles and 11 World Championships gold medals, while breaking records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, believes the track and field has experienced somewhat of a decline since his retirement in 2017, but stands ready to assist in the sport’s revival, if asked to do so.
“I’m still waiting on a position from (World Athletics), I’ve reached out to them and let them know I would love to make a bigger impact in sports, as long as they want me to,” Bolt said in an interview with Reuters.
“We’ve been in talks, but we’ll have to wait and see what comes around,” the global phenom and one of Jamaica’s most recognizable figures, added.
Bolt is aware that his personality was a vital ingredient in the sport’s success during his era but pointed out to indications that athletes like US sprinter Noah Lyles, might be starting to fill the charisma gap.
“It’s going to be a process. After me, it kind of went down because of who I was as a person and how big my personality was,” the iconic sprinter shared.
“But I think over time, it will be better. I think young athletes are coming up and I see a few personalities that are needed in sport; hopefully, in the upcoming years, it will change. Hopefully, I can play a part and help the sport to grow,” Bolt stated.
While there was some disappointment about the crowd turnout at last year’s World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Bolt is of the view that next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France, could be a special moment for the sport.
“Sometimes, it’s all about where it is. America is not the biggest track and field place,” Bolt said.
“I think Paris will be big because it’s accessible and I know Paris always has a good team and good athletes over the years. So, I look forward to that,” he noted.
After a decade of Bolt-inspired global dominance, Jamaica’s men have failed to win a single track gold medal at the last two World Championships.
However, with rising young sprinters Oblique Seville and Ackeem Blake both showing considerable promise of success, Bolt believes there is a good platform for that medal drought to be broken at this year’s championships in Budapest, Hungary.
“Last year, Seville came fourth (in the 100m), so I was very impressed. Also now, there’s a young kid, Ackeem Blake, who is also stepping up. So, I think that’s a good start,” the 11-time world champion said.
“Hopefully, these two will motivate other youngsters to want to step up and want to train harder and dedicate themselves,” he reasoned.
On that note, Bolt said he would be keeping a close eye on compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the World Championships in August.
Fraser-Pryce, also 36, who has led Jamaica’s dominance in the women’s sprints, will be seeking a record-extending sixth world 100m title in Hungary, 14 years after making her debut in the global showpiece of track and field.
“I follow Shelly a lot because we came through the same era, so to see her continue sprinting and coming back from having a child, that’s impressive,” said Bolt.
Peaches Roach-Findlay to be inducted into Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame
Peaches Roach-Findlay will be inducted into the Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, September 1.
The Jamaican attended the University of Iowa for four years from 2004-2007 and enjoyed a collegiate career filled with numerous accolades.
She was a four-time All-American, 10-time regional qualifier, a five-time Big Ten Champion and the 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Roach-Findlay also still holds the school’s indoor and outdoor high jump records as well as the seventh fastest 60m and 10th fastest 100m times in school history.
Competing internationally for Jamaica, Roach Findlay won a gold medal in the Heptathlon at the CAC Games in 2010 before returning a year later to cop the bronze medal.
Also in 2010, she narrowly missed out on a medal in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in new Delhi, finishing fourth.
She is also a three-time national champion in the high jump.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
