The team of Roshawn Clarke, Rimando Thomas, Junior Harris and Nickoy Drummond sped to 40.96 to advance as the fastest qualifiers.
Saturday’s final will also see the likes of St. Jago (41.06), Jamaica College (41.20), STETHS (41.48), Calabar (41.73), St. Catherine High (41.78), Excelsior (41.84) and Herbert Morrison (41.90) in the field.
Jamaica College was the fastest qualifier for the High School Boys 4x800m final. The team of Khandale Frie, Omarion Davis, Handal Roban and Kemarrio Bygrave ran 7:53.41 to be the only Caribbean team to advance to Saturday’s final.
In the field, Edwin Allen’s Trevor Gunzell (61.79) and Jamaica College’s Raquil Broderick (59.43) were the top two finishers in the High School Boys discus. Bergen Catholic’s Benjamin Shue was third with 58.82m.
Carifta U-20 champion and record holder Keyshawn Strachan of the Bahamas won the High School Boys javelin with a throw of 72.48m representing St. John’s College. Jose Santana of Eugenio Guerra Cruz in Puerto Rico was second with 60.29m while Wyoming Area’s Drew Mruk was third with 58.60m.
Jamaica once again got the top two spots, this time in the High School Boys shot put thanks to Edwin Allen’s Christopher Young (19.87m) and Calabar’s Kobe Lawrence (19.68m). Joe Licata of Gill St. Bernard’s was third with 18.75m.
Dejone Raymond of STETHS cleared 2.05m to win the High School Boys high jump ahead of South Brunswick’s Damarion Potts (1.99m) and Kingston College’s Aaron McKenzie (1.99m).
Jamaica College’s Uroy Ryan was second in the High School Boys long jump with 7.54m behind Lawrenceville School’s Gregory Foster (7.59m). Altoona’s Jake Adams was a distant third with 7.08m.
Kingston College’s standout long and triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert jumped out to 15.94m to win the High School Boys triple jump ahead of Valley Stream North’s Ryan John (15.02m) and Brandon Hutchinson of St. Augustine’s in the Bahamas (14.93m).
Leading the qualifiers was the Excelsior quartet of Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green, which clocked a brisk 40.62 seconds to top their heat.
They will be joined by local rivals Kingston College (41.30s), St Jago (41.35s), St George’s College (41.42s), Calabar High (41.70s) and Jamaica College (41.73s), and Wolmer’s Boys (41.84s). The other two lanes in the medal event will be occupied by Washington DC-based Archbishop John Carroll (41.49s) and Virginia-based West Springfield (41.77s).
Meanwhile, the High School Boys International final, also scheduled for Saturday, will see six Jamaican schools going up against those from Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines and The Bahamas, respectively.
St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) headlines that field, after they posted the fastest qualifying time of 42.26s, followed by Cornwall College (42.53s) and the Bahamian school Queens College (42.61s). St Benedict’s, of out the twin island republic, and Munro College, both clocked 42.83s, while St Vincent Grammar (43.11s), Petersfield (43.14s), St Catherine (43.26s) and Vere Technical (43.55s), are the other qualifiers.
The Mountain View Avenue-based Excelsior entered the backend of the championship two points behind Wolmer’s Girls on the final day of action, but registered victories in the Sprint Medley and 4X400m relays to turn the tables on the Heroes Circle rivals at Jamaica College’s Ashenheim Stadium.
Excelsior tallied 360 points to Wolmer’s Girls’ 356 points, with Immaculate (298 points), The Queen’s School (200 points) and St Andrew High (163 points), completing the top five.
On the boys’ side, Kingston College, who copped their 10th hold on the crown, were always a cut above the competition at 452 points, 80.5 points ahead Calabar (371.5 points). Jamaica College (316.5 points), Excelsior (195 points) and STGC (146 points), made up the top five.
Both Excelsior and Kingston College pocketed $150,000 for their efforts.
After an exciting first day in which they swept three of the four 100m races, Wolmer’s Girls, who have won the Corporate Area title three times, continued to apply pressure on Excelsior to the point where it came down to the relays to decide things.
The shift in momentum came when Excelsior anchored won the Sprint Medley Relay in 4:26.01, ahead St Hugh’s (4:32.78) and Wolmer’s (4:34.55).
Calabar won the boys’ event in 3:32.23, followed by Jamaica College (3:32.78) and Kingston College (3:33.26).
Excelsior, anchored by Diandra Kelly, later copped the 4X400m relay open in 3:44.73, leaving Wolmer’s Girls (3:45.91) in their wake, with The Queen’s School (4:00.80), in third.
Kelly in her final year, expressed delight with her performance.
“It feels really good because this is our eighth time winning and so it feels great to know that I am leaving with another championship title. This is very good for us because now we know we are in the top five heading into the (ISSA Boys’ and Girls’) Champs and so we just have to go out there and give it our best when that time comes,” she said after catching her breath.
Meanwhile, Marcinho Rose, anchored Kingston College to victory in the boys’ 4X400m where they clocked 3:08.82, the fastest time by a high school team this year. Excelsior (3:11.86) and Calabar (3:12.32), were the runners-up.
Three-time Jamaican Olympian and Puma’s Marketing Manager for Running, Juliet Campbell, demonstrated her commitment to supporting grassroots athletics in Jamaica by donating approximately 80 pairs of competition spikes to six schools at the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA) headquarters in Kingston on Friday.
The curtains fittingly came down on the day with the much-anticipated 100 metres, where three records were broken, two by Wolmer’s Girls representatives Natrece East and Tiana Marshall in Classes three and two respectively.
It was those performances that assisted in pushing the Heroes Circle girls to the summit on 150 points, three ahead of defending champions Excelsior on 147, with Immaculate High (133 points), The Queen’s School (77 points) and St Andrew High (61 points), complete the top five heading into Saturday’s final day.
On the boys’ side, Kingston College, on 146 points, opened up a 25-point gap on rivals Calabar, on 121 points, with Jamaica College in third on 109 points. Excelsior (56 points) and Wolmer’s Boys (52 points) occupy the other top five positions.
Earlier, East gave the 100m series an explosive start when she stopped the clock in a new meet record of 11.67s to top the girls’ Class three event. Immaculate’s Kayla Johnson (11.93s) and Tashika Thompson (12.43s) of Excelsior, were second and third respectively.
Marshall, also of Wolmer’s Girls then topped the girls’ Class two event in a meet record of 11.94s, in a negative 1.3 metres per second wind reading. Tashay Faulkner (12.32s) of Alpha Academy was second, with Immaculate’s Shevi-Anne Shim (12.33s) in third.
The Wolmer’s Girls sweep of the top three classes was completed by Mickayla Gardener, who successfully defended her Class one title and secured her ninth Corporate Area Championship medal. She recovered from a stumbling start to win in 12.21s, ahead of Excelsior’s Sharlla Whittaker (12.56s) and Abigail Watt (12.56s) of St Andrew High.
Meanwhile, Mario Ross of Wolmer’s Boys, became the first Class three athlete to clock a sub-11 time at the championship, when he stopped the clock in a meet record 10.99s. His time ran in a negative 1.1 wind reading, saw him finish ahead of Kingston College’s Orandy Campbell (11.41s) and Naethan Bryan (11.42s) of St George’s College.
The soft-spoken Ross expressed surprise at the time.
“I am very surprised that I ran that fast because I have been trying hard to get there since the start of the season and it wasn’t happening. But my teammates believed in me and told me I could do it and I finally did it, so I am happy,” he said shortly after catching his breath.
The boys’ Class two event was won by Excelsior’s Malike Nugent, who clocked a personal best 10.75s in a negative 1.2 wind speed. Nugent upset his more fancied rivals Nyrone Wade (10.79s) of Kingston College, and Tyreece Foreman (10.90s) of St George’s College.
Finally, Kingston College’s Yourie Clarke, signalled a return to form, as he clocked a personal best-equalling 10.55s to win the boys’ Class one 100m, ahead of Calabar’s Shaquane Gordon (10.59s), who is contesting his first year in the class. Damor Miller (10.63s) of Excelsior, was third.
NB: Action of Saturday’s final day of the Corporate Area Championships will be live on SportsMax and the SportsMax App.
