Photo: Shanette Allison of Holmwood Technical (centre) on her way to setting a new record in the Class 2 Girls 100m hurdles on day one of the ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Athletics Championships at the National Stadium on Tuesday,
On a day when there was a record attendance for a day one session of the extended five day version of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Grace Kennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, three Champs records and a National Junior record highlighted the opening day of the 107th staging of the prestigious event, inside the National Stadium.
The first record of the day was the National Junior record set by favourite Kevin Nedrick of Petersfield High in the Boys Javelin Open, when he threw 63.73m on his opening throw on his way to qualification for the final on Saturday.
Nedrick told Yardie Sports, “I didn’t come out here to throw a record, I just came out to qualify, but this is Champs and anything can happen. I am happy to qualify for the final and I am pleased with getting the record as well.”
On the track, one of the heavy favourites in the Class 2 Girls 100m Hurdles, Brittany Anderson broke the record of 13.38s set by Peta-Gaye Williams in 2013 when she ran 13.37s in heat one only to see Shanette Allison of Holmwood Technical break the record in the very next heat when she stopped the clock at 13.30s. Defending champion Daszay Freeman of Manchester High also won her heat to advance the next round.
As the favourites continued to oblige, the impressive Kimar Farquharson of Calabar High broke the 20 year old Class 2 Boys 800m record of 1:52.37s held by Aldwyn Sappleton by over a second. Running by himself for more than half the race, Farquharson stormed to 1:51.26s in heat one to set the tone for the defending champions.
The final record of the day came in the Class 4 Girls 200m where another favourite produced another scintillating opening day performance. St. Jago’s Brianna Liston ran a superb turn to lead the field into the straight away before powering home in 24.00 breaking her teammate Joannne Reid’s old time of 24.21s set back in 2015.
The marquee matchup of Champs is undoubtedly the Class One Boys 200m and both favourites, Christopher Taylor of Calabar and Jhevaughn Matherson of Kingston College had easy wins in advancing to the semi-final round. Taylor running in heat one clocked 21.05s while Matherson eased to 21.12s in heat 2.
In the final event of the day, Shane Buchanan of Kingston College, who is one of the pre-race favourites, won heat one of the Boys 2000m Steeplechase Open.
Day two begins at 8:30am with the Class 4 Girls Long Jump and the 100m Decathlon Boys Open.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login