Bernard, who was overwhelmingly favoured to top the field, didn’t disappoint. She showed class and poise in each jump, and further demonstrated her immense ability after dismissing rivals.
With a second-consecutive gold medal already in the bag, the 15-year-old Bernard later cleared the bar at in 1.81m to equal the record set by Shantae Foreman in 2018. However, Bernard wasn’t satisfied and again utilised her superb form to clear 1.83m on the first attempt to claim the record for herself.
Bernard won ahead of St Catherine's Gabrilla Treasure and Immaculate Conception's Grace-Ann Bailey, who cleared 1.68 and 1.65m respectively.
“This is really special because when I just started this was the only event, I could have done so I am happy that I have improved overtime and I want to thank my coach because without him, I couldn’t have jumped this height,” Bernard said shortly after the feat.
“I deserve to break the record because my coach and I have been working so hard, we did so many sessions to make it possible, so I think I deserve this and I am really proud of myself,” she added.
With the upcoming Carifta Games in Grenada also on her agenda, Bernard is also targeting another big performance at the March 28 to April 1 showpiece.
“I am looking forward to it. I know it will probably be even more competitive, but because of my hard work, I am confident in myself that I will do well. Hopefully I will dominate there as well,” she noted.
NB: The Carifta Games will be streamed live on SportsMax and the SportsMax app.
The team of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brandy Hall and Tia Clayton were flawless in speeding to a new meet record 43.18, smashing their own 43.62 which they set in 2019.
Hydel (Alana Reid, Brianna Lyston, Kerrica Hill and Oneka Wilson) ran 43.69 for second while St. Jago (Makada Linton, Shenese Walker, Abigail Martin and Breanna Clarke) ran 46.09 for third.
Lyston and Hill then returned to help Hydel take the win in the Championship of America 4x400m alongside Alliah Baker and Onieka McAnuff.
The quartet ran a new record 3:32.77 to eclipse their own mark of 3:39.99 set back in 2017.
Edwin Allen with Amoya Jamieson, Tonyan Beckford, Kacian Powell and Natasha Fox were second in 3:39.76 while Bullis School from Maryland were third in 3:40.88.
Edwin Allen got their second win of the day in the Championship of America 4x800m with Rickeisha Simms, Leanna Lewis, Rushana Dwyer and Jessica McLean combining to run 8:54.58 for victory.
Cuthbertson High School from North Carolina was a distant second in 9:04.67 while Union Catholic Regional High School from New Jersey was third in 9:06.14.
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.
The iconic sprinter, a Digicel ambassador, who has long been an inspiration to athletes both locally and internationally, visited the Corey Bennett-coached teams training session recently to deliver some last-minute encouragement.
Fraser-Pryce, affectionately known as the "Pocket Rocket" for her explosive speed on the track, urged the athletes to give of their best, but also to remain humble and focused in the process.
“Everybody knows its Champs; people are even flying down for it. People bring their A game at Champs, you know this. Some of you have been there before, some of you are already champions and have been champions more than once and you are trying to do it again, but don’t let the moment of the occasion get to you,” the decorated Fraser-Pryce shared.
“Remember also that nobody owes you anything and nothing is put down out there for you either, so you have to work hard,” she added to the acknowledgement of the young athletes.
After playing bridesmaid for several years, Hydel inevitably claimed the girls crown when they dethroned many-time champions Edwin Allen by two-points in a nail-biting battle last year, and they will be aiming to put up another fight on this occasion.
Calabar, also under Bennett’s guidance, faltered to third behind Kingston College and Jamaica College last year. Though going through a rebuilding phase, the perennial challengers, should still produce some exciting performances, especially after Fraser-Pryce’s charge.
Beyond that, Fraser-Pryce also went down memory lane, as she posted a photo of her alongside her statue at the National Stadium.
“Not bad for an athlete that won her first and only individual gold medal in the 100m in Class 2 at Champs in 2004," the caption read.
Hydel won the girls’ Class one title 44.71 ahead of Edwin Allen (45.18s) and Wolmer’s Girls (45.83s)
Jamaica College took the boys’ Class one honours in 40.01s. Calabar (40.10s) were left back in second, with St Jago (40.39s) in third.
The Class two girls’ title went to Edwin Allen in 45.44s, as Theianna-Lee Terrelonge ran a blistering third leg to propel her team past Hydel (45.46s), with Wolmer’s Girls (46.79s) closing fast for third.
There was no stopping Excelsior in the boys’ Class two relays, as they got first run on rivals and later pulled away to win in 40.35s, leaving Kingston College (40.96s) and Calabar (41.75s) to settle for the minor placing.
St Jago upstaged their more fancied rivals to win the girls’ Class three event in 45.74s, as Immaculate Conception closed fast for second in 46.29s, with Hydel (46.41s) in third.
The Class three boys title went to Red Hills Road, as Calabar (43.45s) got the baton around best to win. Wolmer’s Boys were second in 43.69s, with St Elizabeth Technical third in 43.85s. Kingston College initially placed second, but they were later disqualified for obstruction.
Hydel also won the girls’ Class four even in impressive fashion, as they stopped the clock in 47.78s. Covent of Mercy Alpha was second in 48.35s and Edwin Allen (48.46s), third.
By virtue of the relay performances, Hydel moved up to 289 points, 17.5 points behind Edwin Allen, (306.5 points) with the sprint medley relay open, the 3,000m open and the 4X400m relay open to come.
On the boys’ side, Kingston College are on 304 points, 52 points ahead of Jamaica College (252 points), with the sprint medley open and the 4X400m relay open to come.
The team comprising Shemonique Hazel, Alliah Baker, Shania Myers and Jody-Ann Daley, clocked 44.71s in victory, as they fended off the challenge of Edwin Allen’s quartet Trezeguet Taylor, Theianna-Lee Terrelonge, Renecia Edwards and Jounee Armstrong of Edwin Allen, who clocked 44.96s. St Jago's team of Briana Campbell, Adora Campbell, Bryana Davidson and Quanna Walker, placed third in 45.14s.
Hydel’s captain Baker beamed with delight at the feat.
“We came out here to win and we executed we always say that we are one team, we are here for each other and so we just came out and delivered. We were confident, so we just told each other to stay calm and trust God,” she said shortly after the race.
After 24 finals, KC leads the standings with 187 points while JC has 179.5 points. Calabar High School, which had a very good day in the field are third on 144 points while St Elizabeth Technical lies fourth with 93 points. St Jago High are fifth with 63 points.
Edwin Allen leads the girls after 27 finals. They have 213 points but St Jago are within touching distance with 187.5 points. Hydel are not that far behind either as they have 161.5 points. Holmwood have 65.5 points while Holmwood are fifth with 49 points.
Kingston College picked up some critical points late in the day when Campbell and Brown finish fifth and sixth in the 400m hurdles won by Jamaica College’s Javier Brown in 49.86, a new record. Devontie Archer of Excelsior clocked 50.43 for second place while Roshawn Clarke of Camperdown was third in 50.93.
Those seven points came right after they picked up 15 points in the Class 2 400m hurdles that was won by Antonio Forbes in 51.84. KC also got the bronze medal from Shamari Jennings, a 52.52 effort. Shamer lake of STETHS was the winner of the silver medal clocking 52.16.
Kingston College also picked up points in the Class 3 long jump in which Shamir Kelly jumped 6.82m for the victory and his teammate Roshawn Onfroy jumped 6.40m for bronze. Edward Sterling of Wolmers won the silver with 6.79m.
Calabar enjoyed a very good day in the field.
Javar Thomas of Calabar won the Class 2 triple jump in a keen battle against Jaydon Hibbert of Kingston College. However, Thomas emerged victorious with a 15.23m triple jump as Hibbert finished second with 15.15m. Michael Curriah of Jamaica College jumped 14.61m for third.
Calabar went 1-3 in the Class I Boys shot put. Like he has been all season, Kobe Lawrence showed why he is a class above the rest throwing an even 19m for the gold medal. Christopher Young of Edwin Allen won the silver with a throw of 18.30. Lawrence’s teammate Denz Simmons locked up the bronze medal with a throw of 17.26m.
The boys from Red Hills Road also had a good showing in the pole vault competition that was won by Kito Campbell, who vaulted over 3.90m. His fellow Lion, Julian Francis, was third having vaulted 3.80m.
They were split by Kingston College’s Jafar Moore, who had a similar height to Francis but had one less miss at 3.80m.
Luke Brown made it a really good day in the field for Calabar when he jumped 15.69m to win the Class I triple jump. Jhavor Bennett of STETHS won the silver medal with 15.31m and Iangelo Atkinstall-Daley of Wolmer’s claimed the bronze with 15.11m.
Among the girls, Edwin Allen’s Asia McKay cleared 1.62m to win the Class 4 Girls high jump. The silver medal went to Jayla Williams of St Jago, who cleared 1.55m. Rhianna Lewis of Rhodes Hall jumped 1.50m for the bronze medal.
Ackelia Smith of Edwin Allen jumped 13.42m to win the triple jump over Hydel’s Velecia Williams who jumped 12.87m. Kahdijah Bailey of St Jago was third with a jump of 12.25m.
Roxene Simpson of Clarendon College threw 45.85m to win the Class I discus while her teammate Kimola Hines threw 44.98m for the silver medal. Fabrienne Foster of Manchester won the bronze medal with a throw of 43.79m.
Garriel White of Hydel won the 400m hurdles in 57.65. She was just too good for Moseiha Bridgen of Vere Technical, who ran 58.90 for second place. Edwin Allen’s Jodyann Dixon finished third in 60.35.
