It was ‘flowers in bloom’ on the girls’ side as the main contenders comfortably progressed in their respective events on day one of the 106th staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium yesterday.

Outstanding quarter-miler Junelle Bromfield of St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), as expected, led the semi-finalists in the Class One 400-metre dash as she clocked an easy 53.63 seconds to win heat one.

Ashley ‘Felix’ Williams of Holmwood Technical was also comfortable in victory from lane four in heat two, in a time of 55.07 seconds, while Shannon Kalawan (54.37s) of Edwin Allen and Semoy Hemmings (54.53s) of Hydel High were also easy qualifiers.

There were no surprises in the Class Two event as Stacey-Ann Williams of STETHS heads the semi-finalists with a comfortable victory in heat three in a time of 55.58 seconds. Sanique Walker (56.03 secs) of Vere Technical, Edwin Allen’s Moisha Barnes and Satanya Wright (56.26 secs) of STETHS also progressed comfortably.

Shannon Brown of Camperdown High led the top qualifiers in the Class Three event with a comfortable 56.40-seconds clocking in heat five, ahead of Tatten Thawe of Hydel, who was the next best qualifier with 56.67 seconds. Edwin Allen’s Selisa Palmer (57.46 secs) and Daniella Deer (57.63 secs) also did enough to win their respective heats and progressed to the semi-finals.

Earlier, Holmwood Technical’s Shanette Allison, sporting a flamboyant hairdo, opened the track events with an easy 13.59-second clocking in a -0.4 metres per second wind speed to lead the semi-finalists in the Class Two 100-metre hurdles event.

Sidney Marshall (13.86secs) and Daszay Freeman (13.92secs), both of Manchester High, along with Casheena Chen (13.94secs) of Wolmer’s, and Khamoy Farquharson (13.97secs) of Edwin Allen were the other main contenders to progress.

The qualifiers for the Class Three 80-metre hurdles were led by Britany Anderson of Vere Technical, who clocked a fast 11.43 seconds in a negative wind speed of 1.7 metres per second to win heat two. STETHS’s Winsome Harris was the next best qualifier after winning heat three in 11.48 seconds in a -2.2 metres per second wind speed.

Codesha Lewis (11.51 secs) of Vere Technical and Ackera Nugent (11.61 secs) were also among the top qualifiers. Hydel’s Ray-donna Lee (11.97 secs) advanced with one of the next best times.

Patreece Clarke (10.74 secs) topped the field for the Class Four 70-metre hurdles semi-finalists, with Abigail Blake (10.83 secs) of Holy Childhood and Gabrielle Matthews (10.94 secs) of Hydel also remaining in contention.

Annia Ashley of Edwin Allen led the qualifiers in the Class Two long jump with a leap of 5.68 metres in a positive wind speed of 1.1 metres per second. Monief Heslop of Camperdown High leaped to 5.54m against a wind speed of -0.7 metres per second to top flight two as the next-best qualifier, while Hydel’s Shiann Salmon also progressed with a leap of 5.50m.

Avery Pryce of Vere Technical confirmed her favourite tag when she threw 13.90m to head the finalists in the Class Two shot put. Ashtina Dobson (13.08m) of Buff Bay and Shania Scott (12.13m) were the next best qualifiers, with Aiko Jones (11.74m) of Wolmer’s also making the final cut.

The Class One high jump finalists includes Hydel’s Britney Kerr and the St Jago pair of Athaliah Boyd and Tissanna Hickling, along with Petersfield’s Colistia Baker, all clearing the bar at 1.60m.

Excelsior High’s Shanice Love also justified her status as favourite with a throw of 46.43m to top the field of finalists in the Class One discus throw.