Jamaica’s field event athletes made an early impact at the 2025 Penn Relays on Thursday, with standout performances across three major events. Chavez Penn, Michael-Andre Edwards, and Addison James each claimed gold in their respective disciplines to continue the island’s proud legacy of field dominance on American soil.

Penn, fresh off his CARIFTA Games triumph last weekend, soared to victory in the high school boys’ high jump, clearing 2.09m to secure first place for Jamaica College. Penn was flawless through his early attempts and held his composure as the bar rose, outdueling Vance Harris of Archbishop John Carroll (2.06m) and Trip Campbell of North Penn (2.06m), who finished second and third respectively. Herbert Morrison’s Santino Distin (fifth) and Kingston College’s Aaron McKenzie (sixth) also finished in the top six.

In the triple jump, Penn’s schoolmate Edwards produced an explosive series of jumps to take gold with a wind-assisted leap of 15.95m. The Jamaica College athlete recorded a brilliant series that included three jumps beyond the 15.40m mark, with his best effort coming on the fifth attempt. He finished comfortably ahead of Joachim Johnson of Episcopal Academy (14.82m) and Nicardo Grey Clarke of Wolmer’s Boys, who also managed 14.82m but settled for bronze on countback.

Meanwhile, Addison James of Edwin Allen High dominated the high school boys’ javelin, launching the spear to a winning distance of 65.98m on his very first attempt. James maintained consistency across his series, with four of his six throws landing over 56 metres. Fellow Jamaican Ojay Ellis of Munro College took the silver with 59.14m, while State College’s Nathan Haas (58.73m) rounded out the podium. Calabar’s Tarique Daley narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth with a best of 58.67m.