Kingston College

The 24-year-old, now training at the Racers Track Club in Kingston, burst onto the scene all the way back in 2013 when he sped to a smooth then-Class 3 100m record 10.85 to win gold at the ISSA Boys and Girls Championships at the National Stadium.

His high school career, despite including some bright spots, was plagued by injuries after that 2013.

 In 2019, Matherson moved on to Florida State University (FSU) in the USA and had a decent first season where he reduced his 100m personal best to 10.24. The next three years, however, followed the same pattern as his high school career with several nagging injuries as well as an achilles injury that required surgery.

Now back home, Matherson says he is healthy and working on a comeback.

“Right now, I’m healthy and working hard on the return,” Matherson told SportsMax.TV.

“I expect big things so fans should expect big things as well. I’ve been working really hard so I’m just waiting on the right time to show that work,” he added.

As it relates to his history of injuries, Matherson says that is a thing of the past.

“Definitely!” said Matherson.

“The main issue was strength and I’m working on that. I had an achilles injury that required surgery and I’m completely over that as well,” he added.

Expected to compete in the 100m at the Racers Grand Prix on June 3^rd, Matherson also gave his opinion on the state of the men’s 100m in Jamaica at the moment.

“It should be exciting. There is a lot of quality and I expect great things this season and beyond,” he said.

The sprinter, who will graduate from FSU next month, also expressed gratitude for his time abroad.

“Definitely thankful for the lessons learned along the way. I’ve learned a lot about track and field from being overseas and I’ve been able to implement it while making my return home,” he said.

KC amassed an impressive 366 points, comfortably ahead of rivals Jamaica College (299 points) and Calabar High (207 points) in second and third.

On Monday, the school, celebrating their 98^th year of existence, held a ceremony commemorate the historic achievement at their North Street home.

“Never bet against KC,” said Principal Dave Myrie at Monday’s celebration.

“When it comes to these championships, KC’s going to dig deep and we are going to fight. Our motto says ‘The Brave May Fall but Never Yield’ so we’re not going to yield to anybody. When we get out there on the field of play, we are going out there to win. If a better man beats us and wins, we’ll say well done but we are going to continue cheering and supporting our team, win, lose or draw,” he added.

“Elated,” was Head Coach Leaford Grant’s response when asked to describe his emotions after guiding the team to the title.

“Personally, I am elated. We are happy and couldn’t ask for anything else. It has been a challenging year for us but we managed to persevere and now we are champions again,” Grant said.

“We never set out to plan how many points we’re going to score. What we try to do every year is put together a team that we know can score over 300 points. At champs, you have mishaps and different mistakes but that’s something you have to plan around. This year, we made very few mistakes.” he added.

With all that said, the school also had their challenges in the months leading up to champs, as explained by Grant and Myrie.

“Some of the challenges were, like any other school, financial. We had some challenges with youngsters not coming to training as we expected but I think that goes on at every single school, not only KC. At the end of the day, we withstood those challenges,” said Grant.

“Some of our athletes have had challenges, whether it be injuries or stuff like that,” Myrie said.

“We had to be gingerly treating them as we go through. They couldn’t train as hard as they wanted but we had to nurse them through. We got vilified because we opted out of a few races at the Gibson Relays and we just shook our heads. You opt out to ensure that you can actually do what you need to do at Champs because, at the end of the day, Champs is where the points count,” Myrie added.

Distance runner Ainsley Campbell was one of the main contributors to KC’s 34^th Boys champs crown, winning the Class 1 1500m as well as the 2000m steeplechase open.

“It’s a great feeling knowing that we got the job done and we didn’t waste an entire year of training,” Campbell said.

“I wasn’t expecting to participate in the 1500m until Carifta Trials but I can say it was a well-earned title. For the steeplechase, I was the favourite so I went out there and did what I had to do,” he added.

Myrie says plans are already in place for KC to continue their dominance in high school track & field for years to come.

“There is definitely a plan in place but, the same way we are planning, other schools are planning as well. I am not going to go out there and say to anybody that we have to win or are going to win, I’m saying we are going to put a team in place that can challenge,” he said.

“If by chance there is a better team out there that beats us then more power to them and I’d congratulate them and say well done but we’re focusing on KC. We don’t focus on too many things outside. We have already started the planning for the next three years down the road to make sure that, at the least, we’re putting out a competent team every year,” Myrie added.

Brown attended Iowa Western Community College this season and finished second overall in the 400m hurdles with a personal best of 51.13 at the NJCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track & Field Championships in New Mexico from May 18-20.

He also took top spot in the event at the Drake Relays with a 51.18 effort on April 28.

The 20-year-old competed for both Kingston College and Jamaica College at the ISSA Boys and Girls Athletics Championships, winning the Class Two 400m hurdles title while competing for the former in 2019.

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).

The team of Rimando Thomas, Junior Harris, Jason Lewis, and Roshawn Clarke sped to 40.13 to narrowly finish ahead of Jamaica College (40.16) and St. Jago (40.17).

Kingston College were also winners on the day as the team of Amal Glasgow, Shaemar Uter, Emmanuel Rwotomiya and Marcinho Rose combined to run 3:09.52 to win the Championship of America High School boys 4x400m final ahead of Bullis School from Maryland (3:11.90) and St. Jago (3:12.09).

Jamaica College’s super 4x800m team was victorious in the Championship of America High School boys final.

Omarion Davis, Handal Roban, Kemarrio Bygrave, and J’Voughnn Blake combined to dominate the field in 7:28.38. Ridge High School from New Jersey ran 7:41.59 for second while West Springfield from Virginia ran 7:45.14.

In individual events, Jamaican Phillip Lemonious, competing for the University of Arkansas, won the College men’s 110m hurdles in 13.48 ahead of Jaheem Hayles of Syracuse (13.57) and Clemson’s Devon Brooks (13.62).

Rikkoi Brathwaite from the British Virgin Islands won the College men’s 100m in 10.28 competing for Indiana University. Ohio State’s Eric Harris was second with the same time, while Houston’s Edward Sumler IV was third in 10.30.

Jamaican Olympic 800m finalist Natoya Goule was second in the Olympic Development Women's Elite 600m in 1:24.09 behind reigning American Olympic 800m champion Athing Mu (1:22.75). The USA's Nia Akins ran 1:25.14 for third. Another Jamaican, Rajay Hamilton, ran 1:16.00 to finish second in the men's equivalent behind Ghana's Alex Amankwah (1:15.88).The USA's Kameron Jones was third in 1:16.47.

Jamaican 400m specialist Rusheen McDonald was second in the men's 300m in 32.69, narrowly losing out to Nigeria's Chidi Okezie who ran 32.68 to win. American Will London III ran 32.71 for third.

Former Olympic and World champion Omar McLeod ran 13.22 for second in the men's 110m hurdles. American Devon Allen ran a meet record 13.11 for victory while his countryman Jaylan McConico was third in 13.70.

Jamaica’s Roje Stona, competing for Clemson, was second in the College men’s discus with 65.11m. Virginia’s Claudio Romero was the winner with 67.11m and Army’s Jamir Gibson was third with 59.04m.

Another Jamaican, Romaine Beckford competing for the University of South Florida, jumped over 2.23m to win the College men’s high jump ahead of Ohio State’s Shaun Miller Jr (2.23m) and Princeton’s Jeff Hollis (2.17m).

Michael-Andre Edwards successfully defended his title with a best jump of 7.18m while his teammate Jaivar Cato produced 6.85m for second.

KC’s Amani Phillips was close behind in third with 6.78m. Excelsior’s Michael Graham (6.75m) and KC’s Omarian Miller (6.74m) rounded out the top five.

As a result, JC tallied 16 points while KC managed to score 10.

The quartet of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brandy Hall and Tia Clayton had a string of flawless baton exchanges to eventually cross the finish line in a time of 43.37 seconds, a new meet record and high school world record.

They finished more than a full second ahead of Hydel who ran 44.40 for second place while St. Jago finished third in 45.50.

Edwin Allen also took the girls Class 4 4x100 in 48.81 and the 4x200m Open in 1:35.91.

Hydel High girls won the Girls Class 2 4x100m in 44.62 and the 4x400m relay in 3:33.76.

Holmwood Technical was also in record-breaking form in the Girls Sprint Medley with 3:55.77 to better the previous meet record of 4:00.83.

Meanwhile, Jamaica College’s 4x800m team was also in fine form, running a new meet record of 7:24.30 to finish almost 12 seconds ahead of second-place finishers Kingston College who ran 7:36.21. St. Jago was third in 7:45.46.

JC smashed the previous meet record of 7:31.71.

Kingston College won two of the four sprint relays, running 44.36 and 45.99 to win Classes 3 and 4, respectively.

The Class 1 4x100m was won by St. Jago in 40.26 ahead of JC (40.40) and St. Catherine High (40.50) while Calabar stormed to victory in Class 2 in 42.19 ahead of KC (42.26).

St. Jago also won the final event of the meet, the boys’ 4x400m in 3:10.48 ahead of KC (3:11.43) and JC (3:12.49).

JC won the Boys’ Sprint Medley in 3:30.82 ahead of KC (3:31.53) and Calabar (3:38.40).

There were also some standout performances from the seniors on display, namely Tissana Hickling and Lushane Wilson.

Hickling won the Women’s Long Jump in 6.70m and 100m in 11.85 while Wilson leapt to a new personal best 2.21m to win the Men’s High Jump.

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 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.

Simms, who was overwhelmingly favoured to cop the girls Class one crown, was not to be denied, as she blazed to 4:30.36 to win. Cindy Rose (4:32.79) of Holmwood Technical finished second, and Hydel High’s Kaydeen Johnson (4:33.71) rounded out the top three with.

In his first year in Class one, Kingston College’s Kiprop copped gold to go with the Class two title he won last year. Kiprop clocked 3:56.81 for victory ahead of Jamaica College rival Kemarrio Bygrave (3:57.34) and St Elizabeth Technical’s Barrain Smith (3:59.08).

Vere Technical’s Ashara Frater stormed to victory in the girls Class two event in 4:42.76. Holmwood Technical’s Jovi Rose (4:43.59) was second, while Bellefield’s Rhodonna Prince (4:49.19) claimed the bronze medal.

The boys Class two title went to Jamaica College’s Samuel Creary, who timed his race perfectly to claim the top spot at the line in 4:04.01. Kingston College’s Nahashon Ruto, who looked unstoppable this season, had to settle for second in 4:04.03, while Raheem Palmer (4:08.57) of Alphansus Davis was third.

Meanwhile, Alphansus Davis’ Alikay Reynolds successfully defended her Class three title, as she clocked 4:43.92 in victory. Edwin Allen’s Denique Palmer (4:44.37) and St Mary High’s Dallia Fairweather (4:46.74) were the runners-up.

Jamaica College’s Cavel Nooks copped the boys Class three honours, as he stormed to victory in 4:20.79. St Jago’s Phillip Palmer (4:21.42) and another Jamaica College athlete Bevin Daley (4:22.78), took the minor placing.

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.

Their quartet of Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green combined to run 40.45 to secure the school’s first win in the event since 1967.

Kingston College (Daniel Clarke, Yourie Lawrence-Clarke, Nyrone Wade, Marcinho Rose) were second in 40.53 and Herbert Morrison (Ky-Mani Hemmings, Tavaine Stewart, Chance Segree, De Andre Daley) completed a Jamaican 1-2-3 with 40.56 in third.

Miller, who before Wednesday had never medaled at ‘champs’, produced a personal best 10.31 to take gold ahead of Calabar’s Khamani Gordon (10.37) and KC’s Yourie Lawrence-Clarke (10.45).

Hydel tasted success in the girls Class One final through their captain Baker who joined the club as one of the few ‘champs’ athletes to win medals in the 100m, 200m and 400m by running a big personal best 11.34 to win ahead of Edwin Allen’s Jounee Armstrong (11.52) and Wolmer’s Girls’ Mickayla Gardener (11.59).

KC’s Nyrone Wade held his composure to run a personal best 10.43 to take gold in the boys Class Two final ahead of Excelsior’s Malike Nugent (10.52) and Herbert Morrison’s Tavaine Stewart (10.56).

The girls Class Two event saw event favorite Theianna-Lee Terrelonge recover from a poor start to produce a personal best 11.22 to win gold ahead of Lacovia’s Sabrina Dockery (11.36) and St. Jago’s Briana Campbell (11.48).

Dockery also joined the club of athletes to win ‘champs’ medals in the 100m, 200m and 400m.

Mario Ross continued his excellent form this season with a brilliant personal best 10.88 to win boys Class Three gold ahead of Calabar’s fast-finishing Ched Brown (10.90) and St. George’s College’s Naethan Bryan (11.02).

Natrece East of Wolmer’s Girls rebounded from silver last year to claim gold this year in the girls Class Three final in a personal best 11.42. St. Jago’s Adora Campbell was second in 11.52 while Edwin Allen’s Kerelle Etienne was third in 11.73.

Hydel’s Teixiera Johnson won a drama-filled Class Four final in 11.87 ahead of Mick-Kayla Gardener of Wolmer’s Girls (12.27) and pre-event favorite Rihanna Scott of Ferncourt High (12.31).

The drama started just before the race when Scott pulled up with an injury while warming up before eventually taking her place in the field and eventually securing bronze.

KC produced another dominant display throughout the five days of the globe’s biggest high school track & field showcase on their way to 335 points, 57 more than their nearest rivals, Jamaica College. Calabar High (194 points), Excelsior High (122 points) and St. Jago High (111.5 points) rounded out the top five schools.

This year’s crown also secured KC’s first three-peat since they won the title for six years in a row from 2001-2006.

Head Coach Leaford Grant summed up what this year’s triumph means to the school.

“This one is right up there. It was a hard-fought title. In previous interviews I said the 2019 one was always the best one because that year we brought the trophy back to KC after many years absent. This was a hard-fought one and it’s always good to win a trophy,” he told SportsMax.tv.

One thing that made it hard-fought, according to Grant, was the presence of injury concerns for some of their athletes that hampered their preparation for the championships.

“We had some injury concerns throughout the course of the season but we prevailed and managed to overcome them,” he said.

One notable absence from the championships was the 2023 Class Two 200m and 400m champion, Tahj-Marques White.

White, a first year Class One athlete, pulled up with an injury while competing earlier in the season and, while Grant said he’s fully recovered, the decision was made to hold him out of the championships as a precaution.

“He’s practically recovered but we thought that, because it’s his first year in class one, we’d give him some time to properly recover to serve us next year,” he said.

“He’s a talented youngster so we didn’t want to stress him too much. He’ll be fine next year,” he added.

Next year will mark KC’s 100^th anniversary and Green says a fourth consecutive title would be fitting for such an occasion.

“There’s no special plan. We just have to plan as usual and work hard as usual. At the end of the day, God’s willing, we will bring back the trophy to Kingston College,” he said.

Perhaps KC’s most productive discipline over the five days was the hurdles where they racked up 56 points in total across five finals.

KC’s hurdles coach Kirk King, who is also the head coach of Convent of Mercy Academy, was ecstatic about the performance of his troops.

“My hurdlers stuck to the task and they stepped up their game for the championships. Nobody was expecting a quinella in the Class Two sprint hurdles, nobody was expecting Daniel Clarke to come second in Class One,” he said.

King mentioned that a number of his hurdlers were disappointed after their performances at the Carifta Trials but they recovered well mentally ahead of the championships.

“We had a talk especially after a lot of them were devastated after Carifta Trials because they didn’t make the team and they were demotivated and some of them even said they’re not coming back,” he said.

“I had to motivate them to come back and they came out and delivered. We only had one mishap in our entire hurdles crew,” he added.

KC’s Co-Captains for the championships, Antwon Walkin and Yourie Lawrence-Clarke, also reacted to the team’s 35^th title.

“To win anything 35 times is a lot and so we always talk about the greatness of Kingston College, I think this number specifically signifies just how great our institution is,” said Walkin who, despite nursing a groin injury, finished fifth in the Class One discus.

“It feels great. Finishing off the trifecta feels great. There’s no better feeling in the world than to have done all this hard work for a year and come out with a championship,” Walkin added.

Lawrence-Clarke competed in both the 100m and the 4x100m relay. He produced a spirited effort to claim bronze in the 100m final.

“A lot of people didn’t expect me to even make the final so to go out there and get a bronze medal means a lot to me,” he said.

“I really went out there for the team and the supporters because in the 100m, they always expect somebody from KC to be in the mix. It was a great experience for me,” he added.

Calabar High anchored by Shaquane Gordon clocked the fastest time of 40.53s in the boys’ Class one qualifiers, with Excelsior (40.70s), Kingston College (40.70s), St Jago (41.02s), Jamaica College (40.98s), Herbert Morrison (41.03), Wolmer’s Boys (41.06s) and St George’s College (41.07s), also progressing.

In the girls’ Class one qualifiers, Wolmer’s Girls laid down the marker with a 45.40s-clocking, followed by Edwin Allen (45.73s), Hydel (45.57s) and Holmwood Technical (46.05s). St Catherine (46.31s), Manchester High (47.50s), St Jago (47.43s) and St Mary High (47.64s), complete the finalists.

The boys’ Class two qualifiers were led by Excelsior High, who clocked a fast 41.13s, while Calabar (41.38s), Kingston College (41.85s) and Jamaica College (42.44s), also booked their spot in the final. St Catherine (42.35s), St George’s College (42.55s), Manchester High (43.03s) and Petersfield (43.13s), are the other finalists.

Edwin Allen were fastest through from Class two, as the quartet of Kellyann Carr, Shanique Cassanova, Marria Crossfield and Renecia Edwards won their heat in 46.20s. They will be joined in the final by Hydel (46.59s), Immaculate Conception (47.03s), Excelsior (47.16s), Holmwood Technical (47.23s), Manchester High (47.45s) St Catherine High (47.49s) and Vere Technical (47.58s).

Jamaica College headline qualifiers through to the boys’ Class three event. They won their heat in 43.71s, and they will be joined by Kingston College (43.87s), Calabar (44.11s), St Elizabeth Technical (44.97s), Wolmer’s Boys (44.23s), St George’s College (44.23s), Edwin Allen (44.87s) and Herbert Morrison (46.00s), in the final.

In the girls’ Class three event, St Jago High quartet of Rihanna Anderson, Adora Campbell, Shannia Campbell and Trecia-Ann Grant, clocked the fastest qualifying time of 46.35 seconds. Edwin Allen High (46.71s), Hydel High (46.96s), Immaculate Conception (46.62s), Holmwood Technical (47.19s), Convent of Mercy Alpha (47.49s), Wolmer’s Girls’ (47.49s) and St Mary High (47.36), round out the top eight.

Meanwhile, Hydel High’s quartet of Teixiera Johnson, Gianna Blake, Amelia Hacker and Shaneil Henry were fastest through to the girls’ Class four final. They clocked 48.10 seconds, and they will be joined by Edwin Allen High (48:40s), Holmwood Technical (48.58s), St Jago High (49.31s), St Andrew High (49.65s), Convent of Mercy Alpha (49.10s), Wolmer’s Girls (49.44s) and St Catherine High (49.69s) in the final.

The 4X100m relay finals are scheduled for Saturday evening.

The participation of the Jamaican team at the Relay Festival follows a sports study tour by the Minister of Sport and Community Development for Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Shamfa Cudjoe, and a team of officials. 

Minister Cudjoe and members of her delegation had met with Minister Grange, a technical team from the Ministry and its agencies, representatives from the Jamaica Athletics Administration Association (JAAA), ISSA, the University of Technology (Utech), GC Foster College of Sport and Physical Education, and the Ministry of Education and Youth. They also visited four high schools and a primary school. 

Minister Grange said, “It is expected that this bilateral cooperation between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will bear much fruit for both our countries.” 

The Jamaicans will be competing in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the festival.  Barbados and Guyana are the other countries that have been invited to send teams to participate in the Relay Festival. 

The exchange activities are also being celebrated as part of the 60^th Anniversary of Independence of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. 

The delegation will return to Jamaica on Friday, February 10, 2023.

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.

"Rupert was known as a hard worker with talent to boot. He was good enough to make the Olympic team even as a Kingston College schoolboy coming out of Boys Championships," said Garth Gayle. "We owe our current successes to athletes like Hoilett who toiled hard for success and lifted the name of Jamaica even when there was not much to gain from the sport. May his soul rest in eternal peace. Condolences to his family and friends," concluded Gayle.

Hoilett came to public attention at the Boys Championships when he won the the 440 yards race in 49.3 seconds, which at the time was the first sub-50-second clocking in the history of the event.

He would later book a place on the Jamaica team to Tokyo Olympics with an improved 49.1 seconds and was given the honour of carrying the nation's flag during the opening ceremonies.

In 2019, Hoilett’s property on Skibo Avenue in Kingston was damaged by fire.

JC’s quartet of Nellie Amberton, Samuel Creary, Rasheed Pryce and Kemarrio Bygrave combined to qualify fastest with a time of 7:45.38.

KC (Schevorn Wardlow, Nahashon Ruto, Brian Kiprop, Jaquan Coke) ran 7:53.86 to finish second in their heat and advance as the eighth fastest school overall.

The team of Amal Glasgow, Marcinho Rose, Raheem Richards and Emmanuel Rwotomiya combined to run 3:15.62 to take the title ahead of New Jersey’s Seton Hall Prep (3:16.06) and Calabar (3:16.54).

KC also found themselves on the podium in the 4x800 where they finished second in 7:47.68, narrowly being beaten by New Jersey’s Chatham (7:47.66) while St. Elizabeth Technical were third in 7:49.45.