Three finals were contested on Day 2 and as expected Jamaica College won two to end the on top of the Boys’ standings with 28 points ahead of title favourites Calabar on 16 points. Kingston College had a sub par day finishing on 7 points. Youth Olympic Silver medalist in the Long Jump, Obrien Wasome thrilled the Grandstand crowd and the Jamaica College supporters with a brilliant series of jumps with his four best jumps good enough to win the Gold medal. Wasome’s winning leap was 7.71m, the best effort at ‘Champs’ in many years. Travis Riley of Calabar High (7.40m) nabbed the Silver Medal ahead of Alrick Ottey (7.36m) of Cornwall College. Odaine Lewis of Cornwall College and Ajani James rounded out the top 5. JC’s prowess in the vertical jumps was again on display with favourite Paketo Dudley obliging with a a leap of 7.21m, the only athlete to surpass 7.00m. Damien Creary (6.75m) of Wolmers claimed the Silver Medal ahead of Calabar’s Daniel Bogle and Yashawn Hamilton of Kingston College. In the other final contested, Holmwood’s Daniel Glave was an easy winner of the 2000m Steeplechase Open stopping the clock at 6.04.90. Jamaica College ended the day […]
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Many were expecting Calabar’s 400m phenom Christopher Taylor to attack the Class Two 400m record in much the same way he did the Class Three record in 2014 and the gifted Taylor did his utmost to oblige but fell short. Nevertheless, the 15 year old excited the larger than usual 1st day crowd with a swift 47.23 to win his heat. Some say the real battle outside of Taylor racing the clock, will be the rush for the other medals and crucial points. Anthony Carpenter of Calabar was the next fastest qualifier with 49.34 second with Leonardo Ledgister of STETHS (49.67) and his impressive team-mate Jauvaney James (49.83) also looking very good. Kingston College’s Tyreke Bryan and Acebe Thompson of Excelsior also progressed. The Class One 400m enhanced its growing status as one of the races of Champs 2015 as the heats showcased some impressive qualifying runs with all the main contenders and potential spoilers easily progressing. Kingston College’s red hot duo of Akeem Bloomfield (48.16) and Twayne Crooks (47.23) cruising to easy wins. Also looking very easy in qualifying were Robin Black of STETHS and the St. Jago pair of Nathon Allen and Martin Manley. Class Two record holder […]
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With no final scheduled for Tuesday’s opening day the preliminaries in all four sprint hurdles, three 400m events, High Jump Class One, shot put Class Two, Long Jump Class Two and the Discus Class One took the spotlight as the Girls’ section of Champs 2015 got underway. The main protagonists for the Girls’ title had fairly satisfactory first day showings. Heavyweights advance in Class one Discus Finalists and semi-finalists in a few events were determined yesterday, including one of the expected marquee event of the championship, the Class One Discus. Leading contenders Shadae Lawrence (Hydel High) with 46.79M Rochelle Frazer (Edwin Allen) with 46.04 were the top two qualifiers ahead of other medal prospects Paul-Ann Gayle (Edwin Allen) and Shanice Love (Excelsior). Contenders stake claim in expected Class Two Shot Put battleground The medal favourites for the Class Two Shot Put secured places in the final. Vere Technical’s Avery Pryce (13.85m), Hydels Devia Brown (13.69m), Kadian Clarke of Immaculate (13.68m) , St. Jago’s Yanike Henry (13.19), Georgette Samuels of Holmwood Technical (12.39), St Elizabeth Technical’s Sahjay Stevens (13.17m) all advanced to what should be a hotly contested final. No drama as favourites progress in Class One High Jump qualifying […]
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Each year Halls of Learning takes members of its Lego Yuh Mind Robotics Club to compete in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) state championships of Massachusetts at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. 2 teams were entered in competition: Lego Yuh Mind – Coders Lego Yuh Mind – Builders. Each team presented a research project and also built a robot to perform various tasks in 2.5 minutes. Both teams won awards: Lego Yuh Mind – Coders, 1st place in “Gracious Professionalism” Lego Yuh Mind – Builders, runner-up in “Gracious Professionalism” Since 2011, our club has won 7 awards at the Robonautica FLL State Championships in Massachusetts. [column2] [/column2][column2_last] [/column2_last]
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It’s ‘Champs’ time again and the banter gets louder as arguably the most prestigious high school track and field championship in the world looms. Social media is all abuzz with anticipation, predictions, friendly and not so friendly disses as keyboard and touch screen coaches, strategist, “wagonists”, analysts, experts and even the non-aligned has his say. The contenders and pretenders grapple for supremacy in cyberspace with many a friendship placed on hiatus. The exchanges between the usual suspects range from the rational to the ridiculous as the ties that bind appear to be so tight that it chokes reasoning. Verbal wars are waged by ‘old boys’ as they relive glory days vicariously relishing the raging battles in the coliseum. Every champs-related post, article and picture is dissected and overanalyzed with supporters of perennial contenders Calabar High School, Kingston College, Jamaica College and to an extent St. Jago High and Wolmer’s Boys’ refusing to yield ground, praising their teams every move while at times discounting the efforts of the schools they see as their biggest rivals. Posts are punctuated with badge of honour comments like Fortis, Fortis Forever, Rabalac Lion, Utmost for the Highest, Labor Omnia Vincit, Fervet, True Blue and Age […]
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In 2014 when Javon Francis decimated Usain Bolt’s Class One Boys 400m record, many saw it as a potential rebirth for Jamaica which has a rich heritage in the event. His 45.00 seconds flat left tongues wagging and was undoubtedly one of the performances of the meet perhaps only topped by Jaheel Hyde’s breathtaking 49.49 over 400m hurdles. Fast forward a year later and the one lap flat event is again the talk of the town and even more so given the mindboggling exploits of Calabar High School phenom Christopher Taylor who left those in attendance staring at the clock in disbelief with a 45.69 clocking at the CARIFTA Trials, a World Youth Best for a 15 year old. Taylor had he not eased some 15m from the finish could have gone even faster. The unassuming Taylor has promised to leave it all on the track on March 28th. If that happens that World Youth Best will be obliterated. Some twenty minutes later it was the turn of Akeem Bloomfield of Kingston College to stun fans with another scintillating run, stopping the clock at 45.41, the third fastest time by a Jamaican junior. The 17 year old Bloomfield who confessed […]
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U-17 Reggae Boyz defeated Trinidad & Tobago 5-1 Jamaica U-17 Reggae Boyz defeated rivals Trinidad and Tobago 5-1 in Group A match earlier today at Estadio Francisco Morazan, Honduras. SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – Jamaica (2-1-1, 7 points) edged closer to securing at least a spot in the 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (CU17) playoffs with a 5-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago (0-0-3, 0 points) on Sunday at the Estadio Francisco Morazan. The Reggae Boyz’s berth will be confirmed if Cuba (0-2-1, 2 points) and Guatemala (1-0-2, 3 points) play to a draw in the next match of the day. However, with the benefit of other results in its favor, the Caribbean runner-up can still win Group A and snatch one of the Confederation’s four tickets to the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. One those outcomes requires a draw between host Honduras (2-1-0, 7 points) and the United States (3-0-0, 9 points) in the tripleheader’s last encounter. In their first-ever CU17 meeting, Trinidad needed a win to remain in contention. It started brightly, when Chaz Burnett’s 26th minute effort from the left side of the box hit goalkeeper Jahmali Waite’s hand, before crashing off the near post. […]
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Jaheel Hyde and Christopher Taylor shine at Jamaica’s Carifta Trials Many of the young Jamaican athletes in action at the Carifta Trials this weekend (7-8) in Kingston have just the Carifta Games in mind as their main target this year. But a handful of teenagers showed they could be medal contenders at this summer’s IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali. World junior 400m hurdles champion Jaheel Hyde once again outlined his all-round ability by winning both hurdles finals in the junior age group. He won the 110m event in a PB of 13.22, moving to seventh on the world junior all-time list, with Seanie Selvin taking second place in 13.42. One day earlier he had won the one-lap hurdles final in 49.78, crossing the line almost a second ahead of his nearest rival. But while Hyde is a relatively established talent, this meeting unearthed some exciting new stars. Christopher Taylor, just 15 years old, was the talk of Kingston after winning the under-18 400m in 45.69. He shot into an early lead and moved up a gear coming off the final bend, but eased up some 10 metres before crossing the finish line, winning by almost two seconds. […]
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Jamaican Wrestler Kevin Wallen Kevin Wallen started wrestling in 1985 at age 15 when living with his mother in Canada. He always had the desire to represent Jamaica in the spot. In 2010 with the help of the Chairman of the Commonwealth Wrestling Association Josip Mrkoci the Jamaica Wrestling Federation was born. Kevin represented Jamaica at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships and Australia Cup in Melbourne Australia and recently competed at the Guelph Open 2015 representing for the second time. Kevin wrestled two tough matches and lost, he said it felt amazing to be able to represent. Kevin was the only wrestler to represent Jamaica for many years. This is no longer the case as the federation is putting together a solid team. “This is an amazing time in our history and I am honored on every Level to be a part of this.” Says Wallen In a few years from now this sport will become one of the most important tools we have in our arsenal as we look to get disenfranchised youth off the streets and into something productive. “Here I am 30 years later in amazing shape proudly wearing my country’s colors – at the 2015 […]
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