STETHS reign supreme at Western Champs
SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Class One athletes Antonio Watson of Petersfield High and Aalliyah Francis of Rusea’s High have signalled that they could be title threats in their final Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Boys’ and Girls’ Championships, after commanding displays at last Thursday’s County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA) GraceKennedy Western Championships held at St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth.
Watson, who has dominated the 200m/400m double in recent times, dropped the longer race and won the Class One 100m/200m double while Francis was peerless over the girls’ Class One 200m/400m races.
St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) won the double for the first time in four years, retaining the boys’ crown with a massive 430.5 points, nearly 200 more than second-place Cornwall College (235), with Petersfield taking third with 183 followed by Herbert Morrison Technical on 87 and Rhodes Hall High on 85 for the top five.
They also snapped Rusea’s High’s three-year run as the girls’ champions with 368 points, more than double the former champions’ 172.5 points; Rhodes Hall High were third with 146 points with Petersfield High on 134 and Maggotty High on 106.5 in the top five places.
Reynaldo Walcott, head coach for the STETHS team, said it was a “good day for STETHS and track and field”, telling the Jamaica Observer, “The team did what we expected them to do. We hardly dropped any catches, most persons raised their [game] or performed at the level that we expected them to do, so we are pleased with that. Nothing to complain about in terms of performances and we seem to be getting out of the meet without many injuries.”
Looking forward, he had high hopes for the ISSA Championships later this month. “This shows that Champs is definitely possible [but] of course it’s on a much bigger scale. If everyone cooperates and works together, it’s just another stepping stone, just another test to the real things.”
Walcott said the resumption of the high school track and field season after a break in April was a good thing. “We are extremely pleased that Western Champs was held, and even if it was in Timbuktu we would still have tried to go there and make it happen. Outside of the ISSA Champs I think the regional champs are important and significant and if nothing else, COVID-19 actually forced us to place more significance on the regional championships by actually allowing the regional champs to have automatic qualifiers. And I am not saying all the qualifiers for Champs must come from the regional champs, no, but I am just saying it lends some importance to it and I think it is needed that all these organisations are working together.”
Stephen Smith, president of COCAA and chairman of the organising committee, was also a very pleased man on Thursday afternoon. “It was a very productive day and we saw some good performances and even some records, and even though they were running on grass it shows that we still have a lot of quality here in the west and we just need to continue to develop them as we go along.”
The more than a month-long delay between the regular mid-February date for Western Champs was not as bad as it would seem, he said. “The delay did not adversely affect us and if anything, it gave us some more time to prepare ourselves. But, there were some hiccups but we were able to get over them and still pull off a good championships.”
There were also four records set on the day, three by STETHS athletes and one equalled, with Petersfield High’s Jazmyn James winning three titles — the girls’ Class Two discus and shot put and the girls’ javelin Open.
The first record of the day was broken by STETHS’s Euvia Bennett who ran 11 minutes 22.24 seconds to win the 3000m Open while breaking the 11:26.03 minutes set in 2017 by Kelly-Ann Beckford of Albert Town High.
Bennett also won a second gold medal when she took the Class Two 1500m race later in the day.
Petersfield High’s Alexis James won the Class Two girls’ 100m hurdles in 13.73 seconds, bettering the 13.90 seconds set in 2017 by STETHS’s Winsome Harris; and Shamer Blake, who also won the Class Two 110m hurdles, won the Class Two 400m hurdles in 54.52 seconds, under the old 54.74 seconds set by Rhodes Hall’s Cjay Whyte in 2018; while the STETHS Class Three boys’ 4x100m relay team broke the old 43.99 seconds set in 2018 by a team from Mannings School with 43.91 seconds.
Rhodes Hall’s Rhianna Lewis tied the Class Four girls’ high jump record that she holds with STETHS’s Peta-Gay Reid when she cleared 1.55m to retain her title.
Francis, who has attracted a number of scholarship offers from top US universities, was in a class by herself as she won the 200m in 23.69 seconds, easily ahead of Petersfield’s Kayly Guthrie (25.58 seconds) and Jaciann Woolery of Green Island (25.60 seconds).
She was even better in the 400m, running 53.40 seconds to destroy the field, with Herbert Morrison’s jump specialist Daniella Anglin taking second in one minute 07.90 seconds and Muschett High’s Sashell Walters (1:08.92 minutes).
Francis added a third gold medal when she led the Class One 4x100m team to a victory.
Watson, who told the Observer he was still unsure what events he will run at the ISSA Champs, leaving the door open for his traditional 200m/400m double, won the 100m in 10.64 seconds, saying he has run faster before as he beat STETHS’s Alicke Cranston with 10.79 seconds and Rusea’s High’s Raheim Scott with 10.81 seconds.
The former World Under-18 400m champion had to put on a burst of speed late in the 200m to win in 21.39 seconds, running past Scott (21.43 seconds) and Cranston (21.76 seconds).
Watson then ran a devastating second leg of of the Class One 4x100m to lead them to the win in 41.70 seconds, upsetting a STETHS team that included Cranston, Conroy Jones and Sachin Dennis.
Rusea’s High’s Salieci Myles had a productive morning session as she won the Class One 100m hurdles in 14.66 seconds and then the Class One 100m in 12.25 seconds.
Myles, who transferred from Edwin Allen High, was also part of the Class One 4x100m relay team.
STETHS’s Jhavor Bennett retained his Class One triple jump title with a 15.10m mark then added the long jump; Herbert Morrison’s Anglin won the Class One high and long jump titles; Maggotty High’s Jade Jones took the Class One 800m/1500m double; Neon Smith of Albert Town took the Class Three 800m/1500m double; Richelle Stanley of STETHS took the Class Two high jump and triple jump Open, while STETHS’ Adrian Nethersole won the Class One 800m/1500m titles.
Final boys’ points standingsFinal girls’ points standings
1) St Elizabeth Technical 430.5
2) Cornwall College 235
3) Petersfield High 183
4) Herbert Morrison Technical 87
5) Rhodes Hall High 85
6) Maggotty High 54
7) Muschett High 42
8) Rusea’s High 39
9) Lacovia High 33.50
10) Green Island High 33
11) B B Coke High 19
12) Spot Valley High 17
13) William Knibb Memorial 14
14) Aberdeen High 13
1) St Elizabeth Technical 368
2) Rusea’s High 172.50
3) Rhodes Hall High 146
4) Petersfield High 134
5) Maggotty High 106.50
6) Mount Alvernia High 81
7) Muschett High 51
8) Herbert Morrison Technical 37
9) Lacovia High 32
10) B B Coke High 30
11) Green Island High 21
12) Albert Town High 18
13) Aberdeen High 13
14) Spot Valley High 11
15) William Knibb Memorial 5