FROM THE PUBLISHER

By: Glenroy Morgan
The curtains came down on the
106 th edition of Champs, signalling
the end of another enthralling
display of talents and at times raw
guts and determination from athletes
of the competing schools, inside the
National Stadium. Calabar High School
returned to its old stomping ground
and successfully defended their ISSA
Grace Kennedy Boys’ and Girls’
Championships title registering their
26 th hold on the Mortimer Geddes
Trophy, the symbol of supremacy in local
high school athletics. In a clinical display
of sheer athletic prowess, the green and
black clad boys easily outscored their
arch rivals, Kingston College, to amass
287.5 points. KC with 238 points finished
in second position followed by Jamaica
College with 229.5 points and St Jago
with 177 points. With this victory, the
Red Hills Road based school is a mere five
victories adrift of Kingston College with
31 overall. In the process, the school has
sent the clearest signal yet that they will
not be relinquishing the title they have
won since 2012.
Calabar’s Christopher Taylor,
conditioned by fifteen-time victorious
Champs coach, Michael Clarke, became
the toast of the Championships,
securing four individual and relay gold
medals combined. So star-spangled
awesome was Taylor’s performances,
they erased three records, which came
in the Class Two 200m, 400m and sprint
relays. It brings to five the number of
records he currently holds at Champs,
which includes his Class Three 400m
record set in 2014 and his school’s mile
relay record set in 2015. Taylor, carrying
a huge weight of expectations, energized
the Calabar base as he has done multiple
times at Champs evoking a cacophony
of deep belly screams and sounds from
vuvuzelas.
Day Two Highlights
The defending champions started
Champs noticeably slow particularly
after yielding grounds to both KC and JC
in the Class One and Two long jumps as
well as the 2000m Steeple Chase event.
This all too familiar predicament has
caused jitters among their spectators
at recent Championships. Their two
perennial rivalling schools produced
gold medallists in the long jumps, while
their jumpers flamed out in unexpected
fashions. KC’s Yashawn Hamilton leapt
7.01m to win in Class Two, a few hours
before Obrien Wasome led the way
in Class One for JC with a creditable
leap of 7.50m. Thaleetio Green of St
Jago High posted 5:53.14s to lead three
athletes under the record of 5:59.20s set
by Obrien Frith of Holmwood Technical
in 2014. At the conclusion of the first
day at Champs 2016, Calabar trailed the
leaders by double digits.
Day Three Highlights
By the end of day three, the top three
schools had separated themselves from
the rest, as Champs began to take a more
discernible shape. JC raced to the lead
with 55 points, followed by KC with 46
points and Calabar with 33 points. On this
day, Petersfield High School showcased
what is becoming their burgeoning
strength in the throws events, with two
creditable performances. Daniel Cope
competing in the Class Two Shot Put
registered a massive throw of 16.81m to
win the event. It was followed by another
victory gained by his team mate, Sanjae
Lawrence, who captured the Class One
Discus with a heave of 53.90m.
As a firm indicator that the balance of
power is gradually shifting, two more
gold medals went to non-traditional
schools on the day. Herbert Morrison’s
pair of Antonio Hanson and Javier
Hall finished ahead of the field in that
order in the Class Three High Jump, both
clearing 1.85m to defeat an out of sort
Lemar Reid, the defending champion
and record holder from Calabar. The
Decathlon event went to Marcus Brown
of Morant Bay High, who amassed 6781
points. Having captured the bronze
medal in the event last year, Brown went
two notches higher this time around.
A noteworthy performance came in
the Open Pole Vault event, when Dean
Smith vaulted 4.20m to give Jamaica
College their 3 rd straight title in this
event.
Day Four Highlights
Two records highlighted the
performances on day four of Champs.
The first came in the 1500m Class Two
when St Jago’s Keenon Lawrence
having only the clock to race against,
produced a sizzling time of 3:57.28s to
erase Kemoy Campbell’s nine-year-old
mark of 3:58.08s set in 2007. The time
was also faster than Shevan Parkes’
gold medal performance of 4:01.18s
in the Class One event. The 1500m for
Class Three was episodic from the stand
point that coming into Champs, there
was much suspense-filled anxiety over
the health of favourites, Kevroy Venson
and Rivaldo Marshall. The Calabar duo
fortuitously overcame bouts of illnesses
in time to deliver the maximum 16
points, in a 1-2 finish in the event.
Obrien Wasome was responsible for
the other record on the day after he
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