Photo: Taqece Duggan of Hydel High winning her heat of the Class One Girls 400m at the McKenley/Wint Classic on Saturday.
Last year’s history screams out that Girls Championship runners up, Hydel High is destined for a bigger move this year with eyes set on winning the coveted title held by the ‘Blues’ of Frankfeild, Clarendon, Edwin Allen High School.
The truth is that history has never done a lap or scaled a height on a track or in the field. Anything can happen when athletes from around the country gather inside the National Stadium come March.
With less than 50 days to go to the curtains lifting on the ISSA Boys’ and Girls’ Championship, the Corey Bennett unit signalled to spectators and fans watching at the inaugural staging of Calabar McKenley/Wint Classic on Saturday, that they will be sparing no punches against those who will challenge for the top prize.
The Mandela Highway based team came out gunning at the event showing that their second place finishing last year was no fluke by dominating the Classic and lighting up the newly built track in the sprint hurdles and quarter-mile events.
The 400m Class 2 champion from 2015, Taqece Duggan, who has moved up in class, ran a well controlled race to cruise home in 55.18 seconds. Her team mate Semoy Hemmings clocked the same time to win the Class 1 Girls 400m with their other team-mate Jezelle Shaw ending third place in 58.31 seconds.
Abigail Brooks and Charokee Young stamped their class in the Class Two event cruising to the finish line for another quenella in 58.64 seconds 59.46 respectively.
Jada Martin of Hydel topped the Class Three 400m coming home in 57.25 seconds.
Soaring on the wings of excellence, the girls had a clean sweep of the sprint hurdles events, winning Classes 1-4, with Trishauna Hemmings, formerly of Glengoffe High, winning Class One in 14.68 seconds. Teammate Joda Campbell got her steps and rhythm right en route to the Class 2 event in 14.84 seconds to lead home her teammate Ruth-Ann Roye in a modest 15.24 second. Sprinter and Class three contender Ray-Donna Lee 12.09 seconds and Gabrielle Matthews 10.99 seconds secured the 80m hurdles and Class Four 70m hurdles respectively.
Omelia Stanley 13.09 seconds and Aaliyah Hylton 13.25 seconds won their respective heats to secure the top two in the 100m for Class Four girls.
Bianca Samuels ensured it was Hydel’s day in the field as she scaled 1.50m to win the Class Four high jump, her teammate Rhianna Phipps copped second place behind Camperdown High’s Ramona Hylton both clearing the same height of 1.55m in Class 2.
Janell Fullerton was on duties at the Big Shot Meet at Excelsior High, but teammate Devia Brown showed her mettle with double victory in the Girls Open Discuss with 48.10m before coming back to take the Shot Put with a mark of 13.00m.
With the major players coming out, cranking up gears for 2016, strategy, mental strength and good physical health is particularly important, and if all those favoure Hydel, they might just wrestle the Girls title away from 2015 conquerers, Edwin Allen High.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login