Despite facing some adversities at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Track and Field Championships, Jamaica returned home yesterday from Santo Domingo, boosting a record 62 medals and are ready for the World Junior Championships in a few weeks’ time.

Head coach Michael Carr told the Observer upon arrival yesterday evening that this performance has set the tone for a wonderful display at the 13th IAAF World Junior Championships set for Canada.

“The performance was very good especially at this time of the year when it is our down part of the season and the kids showed a lot of resilience,” said Carr, who coaches Wolmer’s Girls’ High School.

“It was a lot of team work and that was what made the difference. From management, coaching staff and the athletes themselves, it was a unified effort and that gave us the strength to achieve this record haul,” he noted.

Jamaica amassed 62 medals, including 25 gold, 19 silver and 18 bronze, surpassing the 59 they garnered in 2006 and Carr had high praises for the athletes.

“At times the going was tough, with the food situation, transportation, but when the going gets tough, the tough gets going and I am extremely proud to be the head coach for this team,” he added.

Although Carr didn’t want to single out any person, he could not hold back his admiration for the world leading performance from the girls’ 4x400m relay quartet.

“One of the most impressive performances was the Under-20 girls’ 4x400m relay that did a world-leading time and that is fantastic going into the World Juniors,” said Carr.

The quartet of Jodi-Ann Muir, Janieve Russell, Danielle Dowie and Ristananna Tracey ran 3:34.41 seconds for gold and “that to me was the standout performance,” Carr explained.