Penns success! – KC, C’Bar shine in sprint relays
PHILADELPHIA, USA — Calabar High School brought the high school section of the 119th Penn Relays carnival to a close yesterday with a magnificent victory in the high school boys’ Championships of Americas 4x400m relays.
Calabar ran 3 minutes 09.22 seconds to dethrone two-time champions Munro College in the process. Munro ran 3 minutes 09.24 seconds in one of the closest finishes ever.
Jevon Francis produced yet another stunning anchor leg as he split a mind-boggling 44.9 seconds to take his team from third place in the final 300m to beat Munro College’s Delano Williams on the line, as the crowd rose to its feet in appreciation of a fine race.
It was one of the tightest finishes ever, as two hundredths of a second separated Calabar High and Munro College, who claimed the second and third-best times ever at the meet. Calabar’s time was bested only by the record 3 minutes 08.72 seconds set by John Muir High in 1997, a team anchored by Obea Moore, considered one of the United States’ best ever junior 400m runner.
Earlier in the day, Kingston College won the 4x100m, as Jamaican high schools took four of the six relays on offer, after Vere Technical won the girls’ 4x400m and Holmwood Technical took the 4x100m on Friday.
A crowd of 48,871 turned up yesterday, under brilliant blue skies and warm weather, for a three-day total of 111,284, the eighth largest ever turnout, and the 10th year in a row that the three-day attendance was over 100,000. A large percentage of those in attendance yesterday wore the Jamaican colours.
Four Jamaican schools had qualified for the mile relay after yesterday morning’s heats, with Kingston College missing out with the ninth-best time of the day.
Manchester High, the dark horses coming into the race, led at the final exchange, but Williams quickly overhauled the leader and looked set to add their third Penn Relay title to those won at Gibson Relays and the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ Champs earlier, before Francis struck.
Francis, who had performed similar heroics at the Carifta Games a month ago in leading Jamaica to the win in the Under-20 boys’ section, pulled alongside Williams as both entered the home stretch and raced to the tape, and it took a few seconds for the electronic timing system to separate the teams.
Manchester High were third with a decent 3 minutes 10.21 seconds, as St Jago were eighth in 3 minutes 28.18 seconds.
The Calabar team was Kemar Williams, Jason Hilton — who replaced Shemar Campbell, who ran in the heats — Michael O’Hara and Francis. Assistant coach Floyd Howell dedicated the win to the late Herb McKinley.
“We saw (Olympian) Lloyd LaBeach earlier today, and he urged us to win this one for Herb,” he said. “We absolutely expected to win this one, no doubt.”
The future is bright, he also said, as the team is young. “They will do some special things in the future.”
Kingston College confirmed their top ranking in the sprint relay with a brilliant run, clocking 40.44 seconds, joint 10th best of all times with the team of Keneil Grant, Omar McLeod, Antonio Henry, and Tevin-Lloyd Thompson beating three-time defending champions Wolmer’s Boys (40.66 seconds), and Munro College (40.70 seconds).
Calabar High (40.76 seconds) and Green Island High (40.78 seconds) ensured that five of the six Jamaican teams in the race finished ahead of the best American school, Juniper Serra of California.
The other team, Herbert Morrison Technical, were eighth in 41.41 seconds.
Kingston College, who had won at Western Relays and at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ Champs, had led the qualifiers and brought in McLeod, who sat out the first round.
Earlier in the day, McLeod (51.62 seconds) became the sixth-best ever to win the 400m hurdles, and the first Jamaican to win the event since 2008 when Andre Peart, also of Kingston College, won.
McLeod took charge of the race early and was comfortable in victory. He told the Jamaica Observer he was just recovering from the chicken pox he caught during the Carifta Games. “I was a little worried that I would not be able to run here, but once we came I was always confident I would do well, as I felt strong and was confident going into the race today.”
Devontte Dennis, also of Kingston College, was fourth in 53.30 seconds, while Munro College’s Kemar Mowatt was 13th in 56.35 seconds.
