The talent was blazing on day two of the 36th Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA)/Sagicor National Athletics Championships, with a series of record-breaking performances from the student/athletes representing their respective parishes.

De’Andre Gayle of the bread basket parish, St Elizabeth, brought the stands to its feet as the competition got under way at the National Stadium on Saturday, when he comfortably broke the boys’ Under-13 400-metre record with a time of 57:52 seconds, erasing the previous time of 57.73 seconds.

St Elizabeth Parish co-ordinator Patrick “Potcha” Malcolm, beaming with pride, described Gayle as an exceptional athlete who has shown commitment and focus in training on and off the track.

“We really spent some time to work on his training. We did a lot of hill runs for foot strength and you can see that came through for him today. He is a very small man but very strong and he works hard at training and to see him shatter the record now is just special,” he said.

Malcolm said the coaching team in St Elizabeth is working on building a new breed of athletes and he is grateful for the JTA/Sagicor Championships, which gives the youngsters an avenue to showcase the parish’s talent. St Elizabeth finished the championships in second place with 232 points.

Gayle, who attends Geneva Primary School in Newell, St Elizabeth, meanwhile, said he is excited about his performance and is working on fulfilling his goal of becoming “one of the greatest 400-metre athletes”.

His coach Patrick Williams described him as a keen youngster, who trains well and follows instructions.

“I feel elated and satisfied, because he has worked hard, so this is a fitting result for all he has done,” Williams said.

New records were also set by Chavez Penn of St Thomas in the Under-15 boys’ high jump and long jump, by 1.60m and 5.08m, respectively. Chadrick Robinson of Manchester also broke the record in the boys’ 1200m open, with a time of 3.41.19 minutes over the previous time of 3.42.85 minutes.

After two days of competition, defending champions St Andrew copped the title of Parish Champion with 332.5 points; and boasted the Champion boy, Christopher McKenzie, who amassed 25 points, while the Champion girl hailed from the parish of St Elizabeth and gained 27 points.

McKenzie, who dominated the track in the 200m and 400m Under-15 events on the final day of the championships, was described by Parish Co-ordinator Mabracq Harris, as a unique talent.

“His performance was awesome. We expected it as we have seen it in training over and over and we expected nothing less from him in the championship,” Harris said, expressing confidence that McKenzie, who is from the Constant Spring Primary School, will continue on a path of greatness in athletics.

Two-time Champion girl, Karee Tape of St Elizabeth, who copped the title in 2017 as well, meanwhile, conquered both on the track and on the field, winning in her respective events of the Under-11 100m dash and cricket throw.

Students, representing the 14 parishes, participated in track events between 80 and 1600 metres, and field events including long jump, high jump, shot put, and cricket ball throw.