The ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) is just over three weeks away and at last Saturday’s Gibson McCook Relays, fans got a glimpse into just how that competition might pan out.
Usually, the Gibson McCook Relays is used as the platform to indicate the readiness of teams, especially given the trend of the dominant teams going on to win at ‘Champs’.
Fans got their money’s worth last Saturday with some sizzling performances from both males and females, setting the stage for some exciting contests in three weeks’ time.
The Gleaner gauged the performances of teams ahead of the Championships using only the relay events that will be contested at those Championships, allocating points to teams from those events.
On the female side, things are pointing to Frankfield-based Edwin Allen of Clarendon, as the girls put on a masterclass, winning four of these relays in fine style and looking set to regain the title lost to Hydel a year ago.
The Michael Dyke-coached team, with wins in three of the 4x100m relays, along with the 4x400m event, picked up 66 points, with their nearest rival, Holmwood, on 29, followed by Immaculate on 26 and Hydel on 25.
Given those results, challenging girls’ teams could be looking at having to be at least 37 points ahead by the time the relays start. Of course, this is considering that all goes well in the relays, notoriously dangerous races to predict, given their penchant for mishaps.
Though Edwin Allen’s Class 1 team clocked a zippy 44.43 seconds, their best performance came in the 4x400m relay, where they pulled off a major upset. With the strong showing all season by their Class 2 quarter-milers, Holmwood were the overwhelming favourites to win. But, led by a super second leg from Kelly-Ann Carr, Edwin Allen upstaged a full-strength Holmwood team to win in an impressive 3:37.48, relegating the favourites to second in 3:38.09.
After going missing from the Central Championships in midweek, all eyes were on defending ISSA female champions Hydel, but in what was their worst performance at the Gibson Relays, the Ferry-based team struggled, picking up two third-place finishes in the Class 1 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
With three weeks to go before Champs, time is definitely against them. After topping Central Championships a few days earlier with an under-strengthed team, Edwin Allen look to be in pole position to lift their 11th title on March 28.
The picure is a little vaguer among the boys as defending champions Kingston College (KC) and Jamaica College (JC) look more closely matched.
The North Street-based team won four relays on Saturday, with three coming in the 4x200m and the other in the 4x800m, none of these events are contested at Champs.
On the other hand, JC had two victories in the Class 4 4x100m and Open boys’ 4x400m, with only the latter being contested at Champs.
Using the events contested at Champs, it was very close. KC finished with 40 points, two ahead of JC on 38, with Calabar third on 34.
Undoubtedly, one of the most outstanding performances among the boys came in the final event, the Open 4x400m, as the JC quartet of Rojay Black, Makaelan Woods, Dejaun Grant and Omary Robinson stopped the clock at 3:08.20, turning back Excelsior (3:09.52) and KC (3:20.21) to record one of the fastest times in years in the event by a schoolboy team.
While KC won the Corporate Area Championships, if you deduct the Class 4 points where they outscored JC 84 to 54, there is a statistical dead heat.
The Gibson McCook Relays did little to separate the teams.
The results indicate that the team who makes the least mistakes will claim Champs.
The defending champions should come under immense pressure to make it five wins in a row, while the 2021 champions look ominous – and it could very well come down to the 4x400m relay to decide the outcome.
