Daniel Wright

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.

It was an overall tough session for Caribbean representatives to start day two of the five-day championships, as only three men and three women progressed to the 400m hurdles semis, while only Jamaica’s Jade-Ann Dawkins progressed to the triple jump final.

Williams was the only athlete to progress to the semi-finals. She placed third in the sixth and final heat in 54.22s.

Prior to that, Cuba’s Camila Rodriguez (55.24s) and T’anna Liburd (55.91s) of St Kitts and Nevis were fifth and seventh in heat one, as both missed out.

Guyana’s Narissa McPherson also found the going tough in heat two, where she placed fifth in 54.67s. The same is true for Jamaica’s Abrina Wright (54.63s), who was sixth in heat three.

Another Guyanese, Tianna Springer (54.49s) and Tyhra Charles (55.87s) of St Vincent and the Grenadines, placed fourth and eighth, respectively, in heat five, as they also missed out.

On the men’s side of action, Puerto Rico’s Jarell Cruz (47.68s) progressed from heat two, where he placed third, while Jaylen Bennett (47.88s) of St Kitts and Nevis and Jamaica’s Jabari Matheson (49.34s) were fourth and fifth and missed out.

Another Jamaican, Kemario Bygrave, booked a spot in the semi-finals as he placed third in heat three in 47.39s.

Grenada’s Joshem Sylvester (48.49s) was sixth in heat four and missed out, along with Trinidad and Tobago’s Kyrell Thomas (48.02s), who placed sixth in heat six.

However, Guyana’s Austin (46.92s) and Trinidad and Tobago’s Jaden Clement (47.63s) both progressed from heat five, where they placed second and third, respectively.

The semi-finals are scheduled for 5:45pm Jamaica time on Wednesday.

Earlier, only three Caribbean athletes progressed to the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals following contrasting performances in their respective heats.

Michelle Smith of the US Virgin Islands led all qualifiers as she topped heat two in a brisk 57.85s to book her spot in the next round, while Kei-Mahri Hanna (1:04.84) of the Bahamas finished down the track.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Jenna-Marie Thomas (1:01.91) also missed out after she placed seventh in heat three, so too did Jamaica’s Deschanique Douglas (1:05.43), who placed ninth in heat five.

Jamaica’s Kelly-Ann Carr (1:00.61) and Haiti’s Gloria Guerrier (1:00.65) both progressed from heat four after they placed second and third, respectively, behind Australia’s Alesha Bennetts (59.04s).

Interestingly, the Caribbean will also have only three representatives in the men’s semi-finals, led by Jamaica’s Daniel Wright, who topped heat two in 51.42s to advance. Trinidad and Tobago’s Dorian Charles (53.65s) placed fifth in the same heat and missed out.

Cheyne West, another Trinidad and Tobago representative, placed fourth in heat five in a new personal best 52.18s, which was good to advance as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers.

The next non-automatic qualifying spot was secured by Jamaican Trevoy Smith, who clocked 52.15s for fourth in heat six.

Meanwhile, Taysha Stubbs, the Caribbean’s lone representative in the women’s javelin failed to progress. She placed 11^th in qualifying Group A with a best mark of 44.28m.

In the women’s triple jump, Jamaica’s Jade-Ann Dawkins will be the lone Caribbean representative in the final, as she placed fourth in qualifying Group B with a mark of 12.82m.

Her compatriot, Jaeda Robinson (12.53m) and Cuba’s Ariday Giron (12.21m), both missed out on the final after finishing 13^th and 15^th in qualifying Group A.