Demish Gaye took the spotlight on the second and final day as GC Foster College were crowned champions of the NCB-sponsored Intercollegiate Track and Field Championships at the National Stadium on Saturday.

GC Foster College amassed a combined total of 434 points, after winning the male and female sections with 232 and 202 points, respectively, to dethrone the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) on both sides and lift the overall title.

UTech were relegated to second on both columns, with the men scoring 152 and the women 185 for a combined total of 337 points, and the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona third with with a combined score of 280, with the men accounting for 147 points and the women 133.

Gaye, representing the winning college, kicked the day into high gear when he clocked a new championship record of 45.57 seconds to win the men’s 400m final, smashing the previous record of 45.93 seconds set in 2014 by national record holder Rusheen McDonald.

The time ranks the smooth-striding Gaye as the fourth-fastest time in the world this year. He won ahead of former Kingston College star Twayne Crooks (47.00s) of UTech and Alvin Green (47.22s), also of GC Foster College.

Janieve Russell of UTech added a second gold to her tally after making light work of the field in the Women’s 400m in a fast time of 51.17 seconds, which is ranked as the second fastest in the world this year.

Tiffany James (52.30s) of Mico University was left back in second and Verone Chambers (52.55s) of GC Foster College third.

The mouth-watering 4x100m relay final produced the second record of the day on the women’s side when World Championships relay gold medallist Shericka Jackson came with a storming run on the inside to anchor UTech to victory in a fast 43.43 seconds. They erased the old mark of 43.84 second set in 2014, winning ahead of GC Foster College (43.57s) and UWI (46.63s).

However, the tables turned in dramatic fashion in the men’s event as GC Foster College staved off the challenge of UTech to take the top spot. GC Foster College’s time of 39.42 seconds was just four hundredths of a second, outside the record of 39.38 seconds.

UTech clocked in at 39.58 seconds with Mico University securing the bronze in a time of 41.03 seconds.

Earlier, Jackson cruised to victory in the women’s half-lap event in a time of 22.98 seconds in a wind speed of negative 1.7 metres per second. Her teammate Shimayra Williams (23.33s) was second and Jura Levy (23.48s) of GC Foster College third.

The exciting men’s 200m final went to Oshane Bailey, who left it late to complete the sprint double in a time of 20.72 seconds in a negative 1.0 metre per second wind. Kavean Smith (20.77s) of UTech had to settle for silver, with Everton Clarke (20.82s), also of GC Foster College, taking bronze.

Megan Simmons of UTech defended her 100m hurdles title on a canter in a time of 13.47 seconds in a strong headwind of negative 4.1 metres per second. Shimayra Williams (13.89s), also of UTech, was second ahead of Natasha Russell (14.41s) of GC Foster College.

UTech’s Rohan Cole followed up on his gold medal performance in the men’s 110m hurdles at the recently concluded Carifta Games in Grenada with a comfortable victory in a time of 14.10 seconds in a negative 0.1 metres per second wind speed. David Hall (15.02s) of GC Foster College and Jariel Cherrington (15.27s) of UWI took the minor shares.

Meanwhile, former national champion Travis Smikle of UWI signalled a return to form with a heave of 61.26 metres to win the men discus throw ahead of teammate Fedrick Dacres (60.08m) and Glenford Watson (52.63m) of GC Foster College.

Samantha James of Mico University followed up on her 800m win to secure a second gold at the championships when she topped the women’s 1,500 metres in a time of 4:43.63 minutes to trade in her bronze won last year. The GC Foster College pair of Danielle James (4:48.40) and Roshea Burrell (4:50.34) was once again left to share the minor spots.

The men’s equivalent offered some excitement for the moderate crowd in the grandstand as former Calabar standout Alex Hutton of Mico University produced a late burst of speed in a well-timed run to just get home in a time of 4:06.28 minutes.

Webster Chung (4:06.39) of GC Foster College was second, with long-time leader Delano Rochester (4:06.72) relegated to third.

Danielle James of GC Foster College upgraded her silver medal from last year to gold when she blew away the field in the women’s 3,000m final to win in a time of 11:09.18 minutes ahead of teammate Conangela Senior (11:34.35) and Juliet Dinal (12:26.78) of Church Teachers College.

Genneva Greaves of UTech won the women’s shot put with a heave of 14.40m, followed by Tia Gay Johnson (13.39m) of GC Foster College and Isheka Binns (13.01m) of UWI.

The women’s triple jump was won by Jessica Noble of Utech with a leap of 12.10m ahead of the GC Foster pair of Rusheeda Blake (11.89m) and Shurane Elliot (11.65m).