Jamaica’s DeAndre Daley overcame a poor start to power his way to a brilliant personal best 10.23 seconds to win the boys’ Under-20 100m to end Saturday’s first day of the 49th Carifta Games at National Stadium in Kingston.

Jamaicans won just two of the four 100m races on offer, but after a two-year hiatus, the region’s premier junior track and field championships got off to a blazing start as at least 11 countries won at least one medal.

The outstanding performances on the track and in the field were set against a backdrop of Caribbean beats as the large Bahamian delegation brought their drums and horns, but it was the young Jamaicans who were celebrating as they piled up the medals late in the day.

By the Jamaica Observer’s count, defending champions Jamaica led with 31 medals after the first day, Trinidad and Tobago had nine, British Virgin Islands three, while there were also gold medals for French Guiana, Antigua and Barbuda, and Guyana.

After his bronze in the Class One boys final at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships a week earlier, Daley, who had won at the Carifta trials, showed his real mettle with a stunning run.

After getting off to a slow start, he chased and caught the field that was led by his teammate Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, who took the silver.

Daley, who had broken his personal best 10.30 seconds in the semi-finals when he ran 10.28 seconds, blazed to 10.23 seconds (0.6m/s), with Nkrumie second with 10.28 seconds, also his lifetime best, and Evans from The Bahamas third with 10.46 seconds.

Jamaica managed a silver in the Under-17 final, with Gary Card taking second in 10.75 seconds (0.5m/s) behind Antigua and Barbuda’s Dwayne Fleming (10.72 seconds), while Ishmael Rolle of The Bahamas was third with 10.77 seconds.

It was gold and silver for Jamaica in both boys 400m finals as Marchino Rose strode to victory in the Under-17 race in 48.41 seconds, while Tajh-Marques White barrelled his way past at least three runners in the last 60m to grab the silver in 48.82 seconds.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Kyle Morris took the bronze.

Three athletes were still in the running for the gold with 60 metres left in the Under-20 race, but Delano Kennedy edged ahead to win in 46.66 seconds, equalling his personal best. Shemar Palmer was second with 46.97 seconds and St Vincent’s Jamaica-based Amal Glasgow took the bronze with a personal best 47.06 seconds.

Jamaica took gold and silver in the Under-20 1500m as J’Voughnn Blake won with a wire-to-wire run, kicking away from the field with 300m to go to win with 4:00.04 minutes.

Adrian Nethersole, who also medalled in t he Under-17 three years ago, started close to the back of the field, but worked his way to the front in the last two laps before powering his way home to the silver medal in 4:01.43 as Trinidad and Tobago’s Troy Llanos took third in 4:01.47.

Oshane Bowen was third in the Under-17 1,500m, running 4:13.15, leading the race for the first two laps before dropping back to sixth place, then managing a desperate sprint to take the bonze medal.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Keeran Sriskandarajah won with 4:10.58 ahead of Guyana’s Javon Roberts who took the silver medal with 4:12.54.

Jamaica’s other representative Tyrone Lawson was fourth in 4:13.54.