Excelsior High and St Catherine High consolidated their positions atop Groups Two and Four after registering contrasting performances against Jonathan Grant and Jamaica College, respectively, on the final day of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup Round of 16 encounters on Saturday.
Excelsior High registered a commanding 5-1 win over Jonathan Grant to finish at the summit of Group Two with maximum nine points.
They will be joined in the quarterfinal by Tivoli Gardens, who ended second with four points and a slightly better goal difference ahead of Eltham (four points) after they played out a lively 2-2 stalemate in the other group fixture.
Over in Group Four, St Catherine’s 1-1 stalemate with former champions Jamaica College saw them top the group with seven points, two points ahead of their Old Hope Road-based opponents, who ended with five points to also progress to the quarterfinal.
Calabar ended third on four points after they defeated Charlie Smith 3-0 in a game of academic interest.
The quarterfinal groups will see Mona High, Tivoli High, Jamaica College and Kingston College crossing swords in Group A, while St Catherine, Excelsior High, Campion College and Hydel are set to do battle in Group B.
Meanwhile, all other teams that failed to progress from the Round of 16 will contest the Walker Cup knockout competition.
Saturday’s results
St Catherine 1, Jamaica College 1
Eltham 2, Tivoli High 2
Excelsior 5, Jonathan Grant 1
Calabar 3, Charlie Smith 0
Hydel High’s Zavien Bernard successfully defended her Class three high jump title, as she soared to a new record height 1.83m on day three of the 113th ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium on Thursday.
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.
Despite conceding for the first time this season, last year's beaten finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) extended their unbeaten run in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup with a 4-1 beating of Excelsior High in a Group D top-of-the-table clash at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Saturday.
A brace from Leon Brown (2nd, 68th) and one each from Kalonji Watson (47th) and Andre Salmon (70th), made the points safe for the Bumper Hall-based team. Jkivann Salmon (75th) got Excelsior's consolation.
With the win, STATHS are now sole leaders of the group on 15 points, three ahead of Excelsior, who were suffering their first defeat of the season.
Winning coach Phillip Williams expressed pleasure with his team's progress so far.
"I am very happy today was a good test for my team, I think the Excelsior team is a good team and we embrace these types of games, and the boys showed their quality today. This is a more mature team, so we keep doing what we have been doing and it's paying off. We have another shot to win the title this year and we will give it our best try," he said in a post-match interview.
It was a frantic start by STATHS, as Brown picked up a loose ball and worked his way around two defenders before unleashing a stinging left-footer from the top of the 18-yard box that gave Jadavin Waul, in goal for Excelsior, no chance at a save.
Though STATHS bossed possession from there and had a few chances from which they could have converted, Excelsior were not without hope and did play their game but found the Bumper Hall team's defence in defiant mode.
As the score went unchanged at the break, STATHS, like they did at the start, came out spiritedly on the resumption and doubled the lead two minutes in when Watson fired home from the top of the 18-yard box, beating Waul all ends up.
They continued to apply consistent pressure and pushed even further ahead courtesy of Brown, who applied an easy finish from close range to a Dwayne Atkinson pass, moving his tally to 10 goals this season.
And before Excelsior could catch their breaths Salmon delivered another punch when he fired home while under pressure from two defenders.
However, the Mountain View Avenue-based team gave their fans something to celebrate, as Jkivann Salmon finished off a well-worked build up with a sweet right-footed strike from deep inside the 18-yard box, beating STATHS's custodian Jaheem Williams, at his near post.
Excelsior's Head coach Keon Broderick took heart from his team's performance to an extent.
"The goal we scored is evident that we have quality in the team. But credit must be given to STATHS the way they transitioned and came at us really quickly. I also thought we could have done much better defensively, but as we move on into the latter stages I think we will be much better," Broderick said.
Meanwhile, defending Walker Cup champions Tivoli High were among other winners on the day, as they moved to the top of group B thanks to a dominant 7-0 win over Cumberland. The win saw Tivoli up to 10 points from four games, one point more than defending champions Jamaica College.
Zandre Roye enters Sunday’s play in the Jamaica Golf Association's National Amateur Golf Championship with a three-stroke lead following a second round score of 72 for an overall score of 143.
Roye, who opened the championship on Friday at the Caymanas Golf Club in St Catherine with a 71 leads William Knibbs who shot a 72 after an opening round of 74.
Dr. Mark Newnham occupied the third spot after posting scores of 78 and 72 for an overall total of 152, nine strokes off the lead.
The defending champion Oshae Haye was 18 strokes behind the leader after a rough first round of nine over par 81 and eight over par 80 in the second round for a combined total of 161.
In the Men Super Senior Category, Robert Chin was the sole leader with scores of 80 and 78 for 158 overall. He sits four strokes ahead of his brother and former Jamaica Golf Association president Peter Chin, who has an overall score of 162 on the back of 85 in round one and 77 on Saturday.
Radcliff Knibbs and Dorrel Allen were joint third on 163 each.
Sunday starts with 7:00 am tee time.
The top three golfers - Roye, Knibbs and Dr. Newnham will tee off at 9:20 am.
BB Coke High School won its first-ever U16 rugby league title after defeating Campion College 12-4 in the National U16 9s tournament at The Cedar Grove Academy in Portmore, St Catherine on Friday, May 7.
The win means BB Cokes ended the tournament on six points after also beating Spanish Town 24-8. However, they lost to Cedar Grove Academy 16-20. Spanish Town also ended on six points had an inferior points difference.
“The boys promised to bring the 9s title back home after they lost the 13s semi-finals to eventual champions Campion College. The win was built on getting the ball to our speedsters on the wings and strong defense in the middle of the park,” said winning coach Kamar Findlay.
“I was a bit surprised when we lost to Cedar Grove in our second match, but it served as a wake-up call for the team because they came out well against Spanish Town and got the win needed to top the tournament.
“We are extremely happy. This is our first title at the Under 16 level and the school and the entire community of Junction is celebrating with us.”
In 2010, Dr. Walton Small, in his first year as principal at Wolmer’s High School for Boys’ presided over proceedings when they celebrated their first hold on the Mortimer Geddes Trophy in 100 years as boys’ champions of the ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships.
Fast-forward 13 years, and Dr Small, in his first year as principal of Hydel High School, is celebrating once again. The school which is celebrating its 30th anniversary won their first ever girls’ title at the 113-year-old high school championships.
Does he see himself as a sort of lucky charm?
Perhaps not, but he believes Hydel winning at the five-day athletics championships that concluded on Saturday, was the result of everyone playing their part.
“I am not sure (he is a lucky charm) but for me, my role as an educator whether it was at Wolmer’s or at Hydel, is of father, motivator,” he said as the school celebrated at its Ferry campus in St Catherine, the historic win after dethroning eight-time defending champions Edwin Allen by a mere two points – 279 to 277.
“That is my role to make them feel special; tell them at devotion, let them dance at devotion. I brought Mr (Coach Corey) Bennett there. I said come and dance for them at devotion so that they can feel relaxed and comfortable. So, I think that our role is to make sure they are good, make sure their assignments are done.
“We played our part and left the important part to the track team. They have done something special this year, the 30th anniversary.”
The timing of the victory, he said, was significant as he believes it will bring attention to the school’s desperate needs.
“I think it (the championship) was to bring attention to us. The school has been ravaged by fire, by the pandemic. We need serious support, we need attention; Corporate Jamaica and government needs to come in and assist us,” he said explaining that Hydel has so much to offer.
“This can be a one-stop shop for track and field and quality academic education because we are balancing sports.
“I have no doubt that this is going to help us. We can’t even manage any influx of athletes now because we do not have the proper facilities to accommodate them. We have the buildings but we need to retro-fit them. Once we get this help we can accommodate as many students as possible because we have a lot of buildings here,” said Dr Small who was appointed principal in September 2022.
Early on in the proceedings on Monday, the celebrations began under the blazing mid-morning sun when members of the victorious track team led the excited student population in a march onto the campus to the sound of music and blaring vuvuzelas.
Coach Corey Bennett came dancing once more, which raised the intensity of the cheers seemingly ten-fold. He danced on stage with his athletes before delivering an inspirational speech about the early days of Hydel track and field, how it has grown and developed over the last decade despite lingering doubts about the school’s ability to win a championship. A coach, who is no longer in the sport “told me I was wasting my time,” he said.
He said Hydel sent a four-member team to their first ever Champs in 2010 when they finished 11th. A few years later they were fifth and after a few years of coming close, they have finally delivered.
He ended with a recital of the Lord’s Prayer with the audience joining in before shouting “God is good! God is good!”
CEO and President of GraceKennedy Financial Group, Grace Burnett, hailed the athletes for the tremendous achievement while singling out the performance of Kaydeen Johnson, who fell at the final barrier of the 2000m steeplechase but still managed to rise and go on to win. Johnson also won the 3000m.
Burnett said that what happened in the steeplechase was inspirational.
“Kaydeen fell during the steeplechase, she got up and she ran and she won,” she said to cheers and blaring vuvuzelas. “Sometimes in life things knock you down. You can stay lying down or you can get up, you can put your heart into it and still win.”
She also singled out “superstar” Alana Reid who won three gold medals – the 100m in a new record of 10.92, the 200m and the 4x100m relay, team captain Oneika McAnnuff, who won the 400m hurdles and was second in the 400m, whom she described as a true leader.
She also mentioned Jody-Ann Daley who won the Class II 400m and Nastassia Fletcher, who took home gold in the Class III one lap race.
Hydel Board Chairman Ryan Foster also praised the team and shed light on the process of how the board assembled a team of administrators that helped give Hydel the push to create history in Jamaica’s high school track and field.
Mona High has been removed from the final of the ISSA Walker Cup after being found guilty of using ineligible players.
Mona was expected to face defending champions St Catherine in the final of the competition, on Saturday, after securing their spot last week with a resounding 5-0 win over Kingston Technical.
However, following a decision handed down by ISSA on Tuesday, it is Kingston Technical who will now replace Mona in the final. The issue stems from the school’s use of two ineligible players during the semifinal of the Walker Cup.
During the Manning Cup quarterfinal against St Andrew Technical, two Mona players, Ronaldo Jones, and Carlton Brown received red cards. While Jones received a straight red card, Brown got two yellow cards. Neither should have been eligible for the Walker Cup semifinals but were still used in the fixture.
"If a player receives a “red card” he automatically misses the next scheduled match in the competition in which he is eligible,” the release issue by ISSA stated.
Mona is coached by Phoenix All-Star Football Academy manager Craig Butler.
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