Despite only winning the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) on four occasions, St Jago High School has been a mainstay at the event and has been one of the top teams battling for Championship honours every year since the early 1980s.

St Jago was formed in 1744 and is the third-oldest school in Jamaica after Wolmer’s Boys’ (1729) and Manning’s School (1738).

This, their 280th year, is no ordinary achievement and St Jago, then Beckford and Smith Boys’ School, came into existence after Peter Beckford, one of the richest slave owners, had a reported 1,737 enslaved persons under his watch. When he died in 1735, he left in his will, £,1,000 to build a school or a hospital for the poorer class of St Jago de la Vega, later renamed Spanish Town.

St Jago de laVega Free School was then formed, and a century later, Francis Smith, then Custos Rotulorum of St Catherine, left £300 in his will dated 1830 to the founding of a school in the parish called the Smith’s Charity School after its benefactor. It was opened in 1833.

In 1876, this school was to merge with St Jago de la Vega Free School to form Beckford and Smith’s School, and in 1956, the final merger to form the present-day St Jago High School took place and declared open in 1958, a year after the Girls’ Champs started.

St Jago took its time before making a mark decades later, and it was in 1984 that they really announced themselves at Champs, finishing second with 73 points to the all-conquering Vere Technical that smashed the 200-barrier, amassing 216.5 points.

It was the beginning of a long and painful journey for St Jago as they were the bridesmaid for nine consecutive years, between 1984 and 1992, playing second fiddle to a Vere team that won 16 consecutive years between 1979 and 1993.

When Vere Technical eventually lost in 1994, it wasn’t St Jago who won, but Manchester High, with St Jago finishing third.

Future Olympians Juliet Campbell, Peta-Gaye Dowdie, Delloreen Ennis-London, Michelle Freeman, Olivia McKoy, Laurel Johnson, Karen Bennett, and Cheryl Phillips toiled hard to put St Jago on top.

Their revival was evident the following year, in 1995, as they finished second to Manchester High and in 1996, finally, St Jago stood atop the podium.

St Jago were the toast of Champs, winning their first title and beating Vere and Manchester High. St Jago tallied an impressive 374.5 points with Vere way back with 225 and Manchester third with 173.

Dowdie ended her Champs capturing the Class One sprint double in record fashion of 11.42 in the 100m and 23.23 for the 200m. She had won the 100m in Class Three and Two.

Other stars emerged for St Jago: Michelle Burgher in the 400m and 400m hurdles on her way to four gold medals; Korine Hinds in the 800m and 1,500m. Melaine Walker emerged in Class Four, winning the long jump and 70m hurdles.

St Jago were now a well-oiled machine and they racked up four consecutive wins in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

In 1997, St Jago won with 299 points to Manchester’s 274 on the back of Tameica Brown’s triple gold in Class Two 800m, 1,500m and 3,000m. St Jago’s Kenia Sinclair was second in the 800m and 1,500m behind Brown.

The year 1998 was the year for Melaine Walker as she won three gold leading St Jago to a close 11-point win over Vere Technical. St Jago scored 274 to Vere’s 263 points.

Walker, who would eventually win gold at the Olympics in the 400m hurdles in 2008, won the Class Three 100m, 200m and 80 metres hurdles.

Walker would then boast a win over Veronica Campbell Brown in the Class Two 100m leading St Jago to their fourth title in 1999.

She would end Champs with 14 gold medals and that was the last time St Jago tasted victory at Champs.

No one could imagine that 24 years later, St Jago has not won Champs, and this year will be a difficult task. But once again the Monk Street Girls will do their best and make their presence felt.