The Clarendon-based juggernaut began the day on 71 points, trailing both Hydel, who 76 points and leaders St Jago High on 81. However, Edwin Allen picked up 10 points in the early exchanges in the Class I shot put competition where Monifa Allen picked up seven points for finishing second with a throw of 12.79m and her teammate Daveina Watson got three more for her sixth-place finish after throwing 11.88m.
Rusea’s High School’s Leonie Samuels won the gold medal with her put of 13.21m while St Jago’s Kayla Davis-Edwards won the bronze with her effort of 12.67m.
At the conclusion of the event, St Jago had 87 points but Edwin Allen had climbed into second place with 81 points. Hydel remained on 76 points.
Meanwhile, Edwin Allen picked up an additional six points when Toniann Allen jumped 5.22m in the Class 4 long jump that was won by Natrilia Campbell of Wolmer’s Girls, who leapt out to a mark of 5.42m. Rihanna Campbell of St Catherine High was the silver medalist having jumped 5.40m.
The defending champions then extended their lead over St Jago when Rashida Samuels cleared 1.73m to win the Class 2 Girls High Jump to defeat Malaika Cunningham of Wolmer’s who cleared 1.70m for the silver medal and Anishka McDonald of Vere Technical who claimed the bronze with 1.65m.
The Class 2 discus was won by Cedricka Williams of Holmwood Technical who established a new record of 47.04m breaking the record of 46.69m set by Vere’s Marie Forbes in 2018.
Damali Williams of Edwin Allen won the silver medal with her best mark of 43.72m while Brittanie Johnson of Camperdown secured the bronze medal throwing 42.32m.
At the conclusion of that competition, Edwin Allen had amassed 108 points to St Jago’s 96. Hydel was further back in third on 82 points. Wolmer’s are in fourth place on 42 points while Holmwood Technical lies fifth with 30.50 points.
Kingston College remained atop the standings despite failing to add to their overnight points tally in the only boys' final today.
The Class 2 long jump was the only boys final on Wednesday and St Jago used the opportunity to close the gap on the leaders as Balvin Israel gave the St. Catherine-based school nine valuable points when he leapt 7.32m to claim victory.
His victory has St Jago on 40 points, just 15 behind KC.
Amari Officer of St George’s College took the silver medal with his jump of 7.16m while Nathan Wade of Calabar was third with 7.13m.
The third-place points mean Calabar ended the day on 37 points. St Elizabeth Technical and Jamaica College as 30 points for joint fourth place.
Terrelonge, a first-year Class Two athlete, clocked a striking 11.30 seconds in a 1.2 metres per second wind reading, as the time surpassed her previous lifetime best of 11.41.
The 16-year-old also erased the meet record of 11.92, with her closest competitor in the timed-final event being Lacovia’s Sabrina Dockery (11.45), while Shanoya Douglas (11.70), of Muschette High, was third.
Alliah Baker of Hydel, finished tops in the girls' Class One 100m, as she stopped the clock in 11.59, ahead of Trezeguet Taylor (11.69) of Edwin, and St Elizabeth Technical’s Habiba Harris (11.75).
Ferncourt's Rihanna Scott led the girls' Class Four 100m action with a new meet record of 12.19. Teixiera Johnson (12.29) of Hydel, and Edwin Allen’s Tashana Godfrey (12.42), were the runners-up.
On the boys’ side, Raheem Pinnock of St Jago took top honours, as his time of 10.59, was fastest across the 16 heats. Jamaica College’s Dontae Powell (10.68), and Edwin Allen’s Antonio Powell (10.73), were second and third respectively.
Muschette’s Johan-Ramaldo Smythe (10.78), topped the boys’ Class Two 100m, followed by Michael-Andre Edwards (11.09) of Jamaica College, and Tyreece Foreman (11.12) of St George’s College.
Meanwhile, Ched Brown of Calabar won the boys’ Class Three event in 11.21, ahead of Jamaica College's Jordan Grant (11.54) and Ajannie Kelly (11.54) of St Elizabeth Technical.
Elsewhere on the track, Jamaica College’s Rushane Symister clocked a respectable 48.82 to win the boys' 400m open, ahead of Antonio Powell (49.01) of Edwin Allen, and while Kingston College’s Jaquan Coke (49.14).
Edwin Allen's Tonyan Beckford topped the girls' equivalent in 53.93. Her teammate Kellyann Carr (55.37) and Shanoya Douglas (55.53) of Muschette, were second and third, respectively.
Jamaica College's Dorian Charles (53.27) and Hydel’s Aaliyah Mullings (1:00.68) won the boys’ Class One and girls’ 400m hurdles Open events. Charles won ahead of teammate Sean Gardener (53.64) and Calabar’s Requel Reid (54.00), while Mullings also won ahead of teammate Nastassia Fletcher (1:03.36) and Vere Technical's Shevaughn (1:03.54).
Calabar's Robert Miller won the boys’ Class Two 400m hurdles in 54.38. He was followed by Shavoy Thompson (57.84) of Muschette, and Daniel Henry (57.92) of Wolmer's Boys.
Hydel produced a sizzling 44.96 to win heat 14 and advance fastest ahead of heat 17 winners Bullis School (46.05) and heat six winners, Edwin Allen (46.64).
Nassau’s St. Augustine’s finished second in heat 17 in 46.80 to advance while St. Jago ran the same time to win heat five. Wolmer’s Girls advanced eighth fastest with 47.35 to finish second in heat 15, won by McDonough School (46.95).
The field is completed by Heritage (47.23) and South County (47.37).
The race is set for Saturday.
The qualifiers for the High School Girls International final, also set for Saturday, are Jamaica’s St. Catherine High (47.53), Holmwood Technical (47.61), St. Mary High (47.78), Manchester High (47.82), Excelsior High (48.00), Mount Alvernia (48.83) and Holy Childhood (49.00) as well as the Bahamas’ Queens College (48.32) and Puerto Rico’s Academia Interamericana (48.76).
Edwin Allen will be the Caribbean’s lone representative in the High School Girls Championship of America 4x800m final after running 9:17.28 to win their heat.
In the field, Jamaica secured the top three spots in the High School Girls discus. Holmwood’s Cedricka Williams took first with 57.32m ahead of St. Jago’s Abigail Martin (54.54m) and Camperdown’s Britannie Johnson (47.33).
Camperdown’s Britannia Johnson, twin sister of Britannie, took the shot put in 14.04m. Livingston’s Jessica Oji was second with 13.86m while Edwin Allen’s Rochele Solomon was third with 13.57m.
Mount Alvernia’s Aaliyah Foster jumped 5.78m for third in the long jump behind James River’s Lilly Ver Beek (5.92m) and Friend’s Central’s Avery Lewis (6.21m).
St. Jago’s Jade-Ann Dawkins produced 13.02m for victory in the triple jump ahead of Ocean City’s Sophia Curtis (12.45m) and Western Branch’s Llyric Driscoll (12.38m).
Three girls cleared 1.70m in the high jump with Howell’s Samantha Strydesky winning ahead of Shanniqua Williams of Wolmer’s Girls and Edwin Allen’s Deijanae Bruce.
First, they comfortably won the High School Girls 4x100m title.
National Under 20 100m record holder Alana Reid, Oneika McAnuff, Shemonique Hazle and Alliah Baker combined to run 44.16, more than a second faster than runners up Bullis School (45.59). St. Jago ran 45.98 for third.
The rest of the field was rounded out by McDonogh School (46.57), St. Augustine’s (46.61), Heritage (46.75), South County (46.80) and Wolmer’s Girls (52.32). Defending champions Edwin Allen failed to finish.
Hydel also took top spot in the 4x400m final.
Aaliyah Mullings, Oneika McAnuff, Jody-Ann Daley and Danielle King combined to run 3:15.63 to win ahead of Edwin Allen (3:16.20) and Bullis School (3:36.25). Holmwood Technical (3:43.13) and St. Catherine High (3:45.03) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Edwin Allen, the region’s lone representative in the 4x800m final, finished second in a time of 8:58.83. New Jersey’s Union Catholic dominated the race to win in 8:44.98 while North Carolina’s Mount Tabor was third in 9:04.88.
This, as all the main protagonists booked their spot in the finals after topping their semi-finals on Friday’s third day of action.
Title favourites Edwin Allen High will be the team to beat on the girls’ side, as they clocked an easy 3:44.08 to advance.
Wolmer’s Girls (3:47.06); Holmwood Technical (3:45.01); Excelsior High (3:48.22); Hydel High (3:45.03); Vere Technical (3:48.73); Alphansus Davis (3:51.76) and St Catherine High (3:53.45) are the other finalists, who will be seeking to upstage their fancied rivals.
Meanwhile, boys’ favourites Kingston College also led the qualifiers on their side. They were comfortable in 3:15.95, with Jamaica College (3:16.81), Calabar High (3:18.60) and Excelsior High (3:18.72), expected to be their main competition for the coveted gold medal.
However, William Knibb Memorial (3:16.73), Edwin Allen High (3:16.89), Clarendon College (3:18.69) and Herbert Morrison Technical (3:19.39), will be hoping to spoil their party.
The 50th Anniversary Awards Banquet was held to recognize the outstanding schools who dominated this year’s edition of the meet, which was held on May 8 at the National Stadium in Kingston, as well as honor some of the longest serving officials, committee members and sponsors.
Founded by the late Neville "Teddy" McCook in 1973, the meet has served as the premier relay carnival on Jamaican soil for half a century, which is not something to overlook.
“50 years in the life of any individual or organization is an achievement,” said Chairman of the Gibson McCook Relays organizing committee, Professor Rainford Wilks.
“Organizing and executing a relay carnival with multiple participants requires more than dreams and values. To consistently execute the event on schedule is no mean achievement. These are some of the characteristics of the Gibson McCook Relays that have made it famous and a staple in the Jamaican track & field diet,” Wilks added.
Former Jamaica Olympic Association President, The Hon. Mike Fennell, was the guest speaker for the evening and used his time at the podium to encourage people to understand the value of sport to the country.
“We should never undervalue the contribution of sports to brand Jamaica,” he said.
“In Jamaica, and in many other parts of the world, sport is recognized mainly because of an event, whether it’s Champs, the Olympic Games or the Commonwealth Games but sport is far more than that. Sport is something that contributes to the economy; sport is something that contributes to both physical and mental health; sports contributes to tourism and so on,” he added.
Fennell also relayed a message to the athletes themselves, encouraging them to “never lose your values.”
Now, onto the honorees of the evening, starting with Hydel High who took home the biggest prize as the best overall performing school.
Hydel, who also went on to claim their first ever Girls Champs title a few weeks later, also took home the best performing girls school and the championship events record breaker awards.
Jamaica College took home the prize as the top performing school on the boys side.
Some of the evening’s other honorees included Custos of St. Andrew, Ian Forbes, as well as Audley Hewett, who has been on the organizing committee since inception. The meet’s two longest serving sponsors, Child’s Play and Nestle, were also recognized.
