St Elizabeth Technical’s Okeen Williams’ meet record and personal best 51.68 seconds in the Under 18 boy’s 400m hurdles highlighted western Jamaicans participation in last weekend’s 19th Central American and Caribbean Junior Track and Field championships at the Estadio Nacional Flor Blanca “Magico Gonzalez” in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Despite fielding a scaled down team of just over 50 athletes, Jamaica topped the medals tables with 44 medals– 20 gold, 15 silver and nine bronze– to finish ahead of Mexico’s 19 medals (19 gold, 11 silver and two bronze and Trinidad and Tobago’s 23 (8-6-9) tally.

Williams who won the event at the National Junior Trials held three weeks ago broke the old record of 52.62 seconds set by Nathan Arnett of the Bahamas at the 2006 meet held in Trinidad and Tobago.

Meanwhile, Munro College’s Emanuel Onyia won a silver in the Under 20 discus throw, while Asaine Hall, Gawaine Williams and Senoj-Jay Givans won relay gold medals.

After just missing a medal in the shot put where he placed fourth, Onyia responded by taking silver in the discus with 50.75m behind teammate Fedrick Dacres’s meet record 59.99m

Hall of Petersfield High led off the Under 18 girls’ 4x400m relay that won the gold medal, while Williams of Herbert Morrison who was a finalist in the Under 18 boys 100m, was part of the Under 18 boys 4x100m relay team that also took the gold.

Givans of Munro College was fourth in Under 20 boys’ 100m and sixth in 200m before winning gold on the Under 20 boys’ 4x100m relays.

Glenford Watson of Petersfield was a finalist in both the Boys Under 18 shot put and discus events.