Both defending champions remain on top as the Dasani BSSAC Championships head into the final day at the Usain Bolt Complex on Friday.
In the boys’ category, two-time defending champions Combermere School lead with 198.5 points, ahead of Harrison College on 157 points. The St Michael School is third with 144 points, followed by The Lodge School on 126.5, and St Leonard’s Boys’ School in fifth on 108.5.
The girls’ competition has seen equally impressive performances, with reigning champions The St Michael School topping the leaderboard on 213 points. Harrison College trails in second with 183 points, while Combermere School is third on 142.5 points. Queen’s College and Springer Memorial round out the top five on 117 and 113 points respectively.
Five records, including one of the oldest on the books, were re-written on day two of the finals. Alex Jones-Ifill of St Leonard’s Boys’ got the better of his arch rival Jace McClean of The St Michael School in the Under-13 boys’ 200m final. After making a tremendous start, Jones-Ifill stormed into the homestretch well ahead of the chasing pack, with McClean leading that group.
Ifill-Jones eventually crossed the line in 23.84 seconds, to erase the old mark of 24.05. Earlier when the pair went head to head in the Under-13 boys’ long jump, Ifill-Jones did not break his newly minted record which was set last week, but his leap of 5.27m was good enough for gold, with McClean second with a best effort of 5.01m, while Zayden Haynes-Pear of Coleridge and Parry was third with a leap of 4.87m.
The St Leonard’s team erased another record in the Under-15 boys’ 200m. CARIFTA bound Jalino Hamlet gave further evidence of his abundant talent, after clocking a blistering 22.02 seconds, to shatter the old record of 22.13, which was set by Darian Clarke of the St Michael School in 2016.
After celebrating his achievement, the confident young sprinter was adamant he always knew he would break the record, but was still happy with the time.
Aniya Nurse of The St Michael School brought the venue to its feet after finally breaking one of the oldest records still standing. Yolande Straughn had held the Under-20 girls’ 100m record since 1985, but that time of 11.64 seconds was demolished in emphatic fashion by Nurse, who had another record breaking record ruled out last week due to excessive wind.
Never trailing after making a brilliant start, Nurse was all class as she crossed the line in 11.55 seconds.
The Under-20 boys’ race was won by Dahrion Belgrave of Combermere in 10.62 seconds, with his team mate Shamari Addison second in 10.68 and the Alleyne School’s Azari Edey third in 10.85 seconds. Earlier there was heartbreak for pre-race favourite Jahkye Brewster of The Lodge School, who false started in the semifinals and was disqualified.
Shamari Greenidge-Lewis of St George Secondary won the most anticipated race of the day, the Under-20 boys’ 400m final, in emphatic style. All season long a number of CARIFTA qualifiers have battled for bragging rights over the distance, but the quietly confident Greenidge-Lewis ran a well executed race to establish a new record of 46.26 seconds. He was well ahead of Aidan Moore of Harrison College (46.26) and Combermere’s Nadal Seale, who clinched the bronze medal in 47.60 seconds.
Away from the track, Blake Carrington of The St Michael School broke the Under-13 girls’ long jump record with a leap of 5.32m, to erase the old mark of 5.19m.
The sibling success streak continued on the penultimate day with Harrison College students Luke and Laila McIntrye racing unbeaten yet again.
Laila won the Under-17 girls’ 1500m in 4:48.39, while Luke triumphed in the Under-20 boys’ race in 4:12.39. Not to be left out Alec and Ashlyn Simmons also swept to victory in their 1500m events. First up Alec secured valuable points for Combermere in the Under-17 boys’ race, which he won in a time of 4:18.72. Ashlyn then re-emphasised her form ahead of the upcoming CARIFTA Games by easing to victory in the Under-20 girls’ event in 4:55.10, much to the delight of her Alexandra School teammates.
The final day of action gets underway at nine, with both category leaders seemingly having solid chances of repeating as champions. Some of the key events set to decide the title are the Under-13 and Under-15 400m races, the four 800m events for the seniors, the U13 and U15 100m finals and the 200m races for the Under-17 and Under-20 boys and girls.
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