THE purple and white of Kingston College (KC) reigned supreme at the National Stadium on Saturday as they defended their ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ Athletics Championships title at the end of the five-day event. The victory was KC’s 35th hold on the Mortimer Geddes Trophy and the fourth title in five years for Head Coach Leaford Grant.

KC closed out the championships in impressive style by winning the 4x400m relay in 3:07.65 minutes. JC was second in 3:08.79 while William Knibb secured third spot in 3:12.65.

“I must pay tribute to the boys because they put in a lot of work and we have great coaches and so, overall, it was a total team effort from everyone,” Grant said. “It is always good to win a championship but I think that first championship was the best one for me because that is when we brought back the title to North Street. I will always remember that.

“I have also told the boys that, ‘When you put in the work you will be rewarded,’ and I am very happy that we have retained our title so we are going to celebrate this championship.”

Amal Glasgow of KC delivered a spectacular run to claim victory in the Class One 200m with a time of 21.22 seconds, edging out Gary Card who led until the final five metres of the race, finishing second in 21.23s.

Marcinho Rose secured third place in 21.24s. Muschett’s Johan-Ramaldo Smythe led from start to finish to clinch the Class Two gold medal in 21.35s, ahead of William Knibb’s Jabari Matheson (21.64s) and Malique Dennis of JC who finished third in 21.87s.

Wolmers’ Mario Ross completed the Class Three sprint double by clocking 22.21s, followed by Calabar’s Ched Brown in 22.54s and JC’s Oniel Lawrence in third with 22.73s.

In the Class One 800m JC’s Kemarrio Bygrave delivered a dominant performance to claim the gold medal in 1:51.75 minutes, with KC’s Jaquan Coke securing the silver in 1:52.59. Maggoty’s Yoshane Bowen claimed the bronze with a time of 1:53.02.

JC’s Cavel Nooks equalled his personal best time on his way to winning Class Three in 1:58.25. His teammate Camron Williams took silver in 2:02.53 while Sydney Pagon High’s Luke Plummer secured the bronze medal with a time of 2:02.86. It marked Nooks’s second gold medal at the championships after his victory in the 1500m on Wednesday.

KC’s Ethan Gioko won the Class One 5000m event in 15:09.11. Daniel Pennant of St Jago was second in 16:53.99, while third went to Jermain Hinds of Glengoffe in 17:02.38.

In the field events, JC’s Michael-Andre Edwards produced an outstanding performance to win the Class Two triple jump competition with a meet record mark of 15.54m. Edwards’ teammate J’Avair Cato finished second with a leap of 15.03m. KC’s Amani Phillips finished third with a jump of 14.65m.

JC’s Chavez Penn captured the Class One high jump with a leap of 2.05m, ahead of Calabar’s Jevontae Grant with 2.00m, and Santino Distin of Herbert Morrison who also lept 2.00m. However, Grant was awarded the silver medal ahead of Distin, having achieved the mark on his second attempt while the latter secured the mark on his third try.

St George’s College’s Deandre Bristol won the gold medal in the javelin throw open event with a mark of 61.80m. JC’s Dorian Charles took the silver with a mark of 61.13m, while Brandon Falconer of STETHS grabbed the bronze with a throw of 60.19m.