Defending champions Edwin Allen fired on all cylinders to easily win Girls Champs in 2014. However, they lost a number of stalwarts including Monique Spencer, Camira Haughton, Marleena Eubanks and Claudette Allen to name a few but such is the depth of the squad that many expect them to take the title back to Clarendon. The Michael Dyke coached team has looked very good all season and will be tough to beat especially with the likes of Sequkine Cameron, Shellece Clarke and Rochelle Fraser leading the charge. Kevona Davis and Shanique Rowe are the leading lights in Class Four. St. Jago High School’s title credentials have been on display all season. The Monk Street Girls have been in the wilderness for a while but that could change as they have the firepower and quality to wrestle the title from Edwin Allen. The leading lights for St. Jago are Peta-Gay Williams, Natalliah Whyte, Shanice Reid, Kimone Shaw, Genekie Leith and Andrenette Knight to name a few. St. Jago will get quality points from Classes One and Three. They may have enough ammunition in the other two classes but lack star power in the field events which could be their undoing. Holmwood […]
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At the end of Day 3, Kingston College (KC) appeared down for the count having suffered a potentially fatal body blow in their quest to tame the lions and cubs of the Calabar. KC’s ace Class Two sprinter Jhevaughn Matherson pulled up in his semi-final of the 200m as supporters of the North Street giants looked on in stunned silence. Meanwhile the Calabar Lions continued to roar ferociously with their cubs in Class Three taking a cue and rising above pre champs predictions. Calabar was responsible for the two records to fall on the day with last year’s 4th place finisher Shakiel Chattoo breaking the Decathlon record amassing 6988 points in the grueling 10-event competition and 13 year old Lamar Reid’s record jump of 1.99m surpassing the record of 1.98m set over 22 years ago. The Red Hills Road institution lost the Class One Discus title when Demar Gayle of Edwin Allen threw 50.70m to take the Gold ahead of Calabar’s Warren Barrett Jnr. and Sanjae Lawrence of Petersfield High. KC did not end the day empty handed as Rasheeda Downer with a throw of 16.47 won the Boys’ Class two Shot Put ahead of the Calabar pair of Andre […]
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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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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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Jamaican Alpine Skier Michael Williams Michael Williams only discovered skiing by accident. As an 18-year-old of Caribbean descent living in Canada, he had turned on his TV to watch the celebrated Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, but got hooked on skiing as well. He loved the way Alberto Tomba of Italy and Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland glided down the slopes. “I wanted it too,” Williams, now aged 45, says of the revelation on his blog page, called ‘Jamaican Dream Chaser’. “I wanted to be called ‘Blackman Zurbriggen.’ I wanted to be a beast on the slopes like he was.” Over time the dream faded; Williams excelled instead at American football and even played professionally for a while in Europe as a quarterback and receiver. [column2] [/column2][column2_last] [instagram-feed] [/column2_last] Late starter on the slopes Only at the age of 43 and when settled into a family life in Germany, did Williams finally decide he wanted to take up skiing competitively. “The first reaction I get when I tell people I’m a skier from Jamaica is always about Cool Runnings,” Williams said to reporters at the alpine skiing world championships in Colorado this week, referring […]
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