Quarter-miler Bembridge to miss Champs after moving from C’bar to JC
PROMISING quarter-miler Jeremy Bembridge will not be participating at the ISSA Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championship, after switching schools from Calabar High to Jamaica College (JC).
The 19-year-old Bembridge, who was second at the last Champs in the 400m in an impressive 45.94, will not be able to compete at Champs because of the ISSA rule that states that “transferred students will not be allowed to participate if transferred amongst member schools more than once”.
Bembridge made his mark in the 400m and 400 hurdles for Tarrant High in 2019, copping the silver medal in the Class Two 400m in 48.76 and finishing third in the 400m hurdles in 53.36 behind the KC pair of Jayden Brown (51.88) and Rayon Campbell (52.85). Brown has also made the move to JC.
With no Champs in 2020, he left for Calabar High and performed exceedingly well at the 2021 Champs, finishing second in the Class One 400m in an impressive 45.94 behind winner Javier Brown of JC who stopped the clock at 45.74. The record is 44.93, set by KC’s Akeem Bloomfield in 2015.
A Calabar official, who requested anonymity, said Bembridge had not met the school’s requirements to be recommended for certain academic subjects he preferred, hence the fallout triggering the move to JC.
Efforts to contact Calabar High Principal Albert Corcho for comment proved futile as his cellphone rang unanswered.
— Howard Walker