PHILADELPHIA, United States — Very few people at Franklin Field on Friday’s second day of the 126th staging of the Penn Relays Carnival were as surprised as Dejone Raymond, who won the high school boys’ high jump with a personal best equalling 2.05m.

Raymond became the 11th Jamaican to win the event since 2008, but none were ranked as low as the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) athlete who was rated eighth in the field.

Jamaicans won four of the six field events they contested on Friday, including Kingston College’s Jaydon Hibbert, who, as expected, won the triple jump, while the Edwin Allen High pair of Trevor Gunzell and Christopher Young won the discus throw and shot put events, respectively.

The Jamaican girls won just one of their field events on Thursday, with Holmwood Technical’s Cedricka Williams topping the discus throw.

Raymond was second to his teammate Tierick Smith at the COCAA Western Champs and also at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Boys’ Championships when he finished behind Kingston College’s Verrol Sam.

“I am very surprised, to be honest. I don’t think that I got enough work in last week leading up to the Penn Relays, but I am still grateful. I can only give this to God, to be honest,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Raymond equalled his personal best in conditions that he would not have been used to, given he was travelling to the United States for the first time.

“This is a big confidence-booster for me,” the Grade 12 student said. “I can only try to be better after this performance.”

Kingston College’s Aaron McKenzie, who set a new Champs Class Two record earlier this month, and was third in the Under-17 finals at the Carifta Games, was third with 1.99m. STETHS’s Smith was fifth with 1.93m.

Hibbert, who failed to break the Penn Relays record 16.01m set in 2016 by Jamaica College’s Obrien Wasome, said he was satisfied with his victory nonetheless, as he jumped a wind-aided 15.94m (3.8m/s).

“Today I tried my best but it was not good enough for the record, but I am still grateful, as, hey, it’s Penns and I got a golden watch to go home and I got the title,” he said. “Yes, I know that I could have jumped 16.01m easily, but maybe it was not my time and someone else will need it more than I do,” said Hibbert.

Gunzell and Young repeated their wins from the ISSA Champs as they became the first athletes from Edwin Allen to win a throwing event at Penn Relays, joining Rayan Holmes, who won the 400m hurdles in 2016, as the individual winners.

Gunzell threw the discus 61.79m, the ninth best ever at the Penn Relays, and extended Jamaica’s streak in the event to five-straight as Jamaica College’s Racquil Broderick was second with 59.43m.

Altwayne Bedward of Kingston College was fourth with 58.44m and Yekini Bowen of Petersfield eighth with 54.33m.

Young got the better of Calabar High’s Kobe Lawrence in the shot put, exacting revenge for his loss at the Carifta Games two weeks ago in Jamaica, throwing 19.87m, the second time in the six Penn Relays that the winner of the shot put failed to get over 20.00m.

Lawrence was a mere 19 centimetres behind Young with a best of 19.68m. Shamar Reid of Jamaica College was fifth with 17.95m and Roshaun Bienetzens of Wolmer’s Boys’ was 13th with 15.00m.

Jamaica College’s Uroy Ryan was second in the long jump with a wind-aided 7.54m (2.4m/s), beaten by Gregor Fowler of Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, who won with 7.59m (1.4m/s).

St Jago’s Demario Prince was fourth with a wind-aided 6.97m (2.5m/s) and Royan Walters Petersfield, who withdrew with an injury and missed his last two attempts, was eighth with 6.63m (0.7m/s).

Meanwhile, Kingston College’s Jaeden Teka was sixth in the javelin with 56.13m.

— Paul A Reid