Another impressive display from Tina Clayton in the Under-20 100 metre headlined strong performances from Jamaica’s girls, both on the track and in the field, on day one of the 49th Carifta Games as the rising stars seem poised for another romp on home soil at the National Stadium.

With this being the first staging of the games since the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Jamaicans, who tallied 85 medals at the 2019 edition in the Cayman Islands, are just about picking up where they left off, treating the thousands of Jamaican spectators, in particular, to a bellyful of excitement.

Tina Clayton and her peers accounted for six gold, six silver, and three bronze medals as Jamaica lead the standings with an overall tally of 27 medals — 11 gold, 11 silver, and five bronze — heading into today’s second day, which has a 9:00 am start time.

The World 100m Under-20 champion Clayton, followed up her win at the recently-concluded Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships with another classy performance, clocking a new season’s best 11.22 seconds in a positive 0.6 metres-per-second wind reading.

Running from lane seven, Clayton got up well beside her twin sister Tia in lane five, and the two quickly separated themselves from the field, with Tina accelerating quickest to take the win.

Tia’s 11.30 for second was also a season’s best, with Shaniqua Bascombe (11.57) of Trinidad and Tobago in third.

The Jamaicans were upstaged in the Under-17 event as British Virgin Islands’ Adaejah Hodge won in an impressive 11.28 seconds. The time clocked by the diminutive athlete in a positive 0.5 metres-per-second wind reading was also a national record.

Shatalya Dorsett (11.80) of The Bahamas took silver, with the highly thought of Theianna Lee Terrelonge finishing third in 11.87.

Earlier, Danielle Noble claimed the country’s first gold medal when she topped the girls’ Under-17 high jump.

Noble, the girls’ Class Three silver medallist at Champs soared to a new personal best of 1.73 metres. The Wolmer’s Girls’ student bettered her previous best of 1.71m.

Tenique Vincent of Trinidad and Tobago took silver after clearing 1.65m, while British Virgin Islands’ Jah’kayla Morton was third at 1.60m.

Nastassia Burrell had to settle for second in the girls’ Under-17 shot put, following a best throw of 13.10m on her second attempt. She was behind British Virgin Islands’ Savianna Joseph, who topped the field with 13.54m, while Terrell McCoy (13.00m) of The Bahamas was third.

The Jamaicans continued their medal-winning run after a lengthy break and an entertaining opening ceremony, with Jo-Anna Pinnock cutting the sand at 12.13m to claim silver in the girls’ Under-20 triple jump.

French Guiana’s Kayssia Hudson won with a mark of 12.34m, while Alyssa Dyett (12.04m) of Antigua and Barbuda won the bronze.

St Jago’s Kedera Coombs then secured another bronze medal for Jamaica in the girls’ Under-17 1,500 metres, stopping the clock in 4:52.19, behind Guyana’s Attoya Harvey (4:45.75), who won in impressive fashion.

In fact, the Jamaicans should have secured two medals in the event, but long-time front-runner Andrene Peart had very little in the tank to hold off Trinidad and Tobago’s Kayleigh Forde (4:52.14), who closed fast for second.

However, there was to be no such misfortune in the Under-20 1,500m as the Jamaicans secured a one-two finish through Rickeisha Simms and Samantha Pryce.

Simms closed well from off the pace to top the small field in 4:44.18, with Pryce further behind in 4:44.77. Barbados’ Layla Haynes, who engaged Pryce in a sprint 200m out, faded into third in 4:45.10.

Another one-three finish came in the Under-17 400m courtesy of Abigail Campbell and Quana Walker. Campbell, running from lane four, got up well and paced herself on the backstretch before exploding off the curve to win in 53.84 ahead of Guyana’s Narissa McPherson (55.39s) and Walker (55.65s).

With the crowd already in a frenzy, the cheers got even louder when Kaylia Kelly and Oneika McAnnuff secured another one-two finish in the girls’ Under-20 400m.

Kelly, who was a no-show at Champs, may have left it for this occasion as she produced a well-timed run on the inside to win the event in a new personal best 52.32, sweeping by McAnnuff (52.52) and Caitlyn Boob (53.12) of Bermuda.

In the girls’ Under-20 discus, Jamaica’s Cedricka Williams (51.24m) and Britania Johnson (49.74) took gold and silver.