Kingston College (KC) Principal Dave Myrie said on Monday that it would be disappointing if annual Penn Relays in the United States are not held this year.

Myrie was responding to claims that plans by the Donald Trump Administration to pause funding for the University of Pennsylvania could affect the staging of the relay carnival, which features the cream of Jamaican high school athletes.

“It is surprising news. They [the athletes] enjoy competing against the Caribbean schools and so it would be sad if it doesn’t go ahead, but then again, at the end of the day, those things are entirely out of our hands,” Myrie told the Jamaica Observer during KC’s celebration of their 36th victory in the five-day ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ Athletics Championships which concluded last Saturday at National Stadium in St Andrew.

The win is particularly special for the school as it is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

“I don’t know what is happening within… US politics or what the situation there is, but we hope [the relays] will continue because it is a showpiece for many of our schools here and for many of the US schools as well,” Myrie pointed out.

He said that if the relays are on, KC will be sending a team to ensure they retain their 4x400m title won at last year’s staging of the event.

“We have won the 4x400m for three consecutive years at that championship. It would be good to have it for the fourth year,” the principal said.

However, he said that if the event is cancelled, the focus would be on ensuring that the student athletes are prepared for examinations.

“What we are going to be doing is get our exam boys ready. They trained for long hours on many days and they missed a couple of things, so we are going to be working with them. A number of our boys are going to the Carifta Games as well,” he said.

“I think maybe eight or nine of our boys are on the Carifta team, so they will be getting themselves ready to represent Jamaica, and if Penns doesn’t happen, they will be back in Jamaica to rest and get their work done,” Myrie explained.

The New York Times reported last week that the Trump Administration said it would suspend about US$175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania over its approach to transgender athletes.

According to the newspaper, the move would intensify the US Government’s campaign against the participation of transgender people in sports and escalate a clash with elite public colleges.

The Penn Relays began in 1895 and is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world. Jamaica first participated in 1964 when a team from KC won gold in the 440 yards relay with a time of 42.7 seconds.

Since then, the country’s young athletes have been sought after by scouts and trainers from colleges and universities across the United States during the staging of the relays.

Over the years, a long line of Jamaican athletes, including the world’s fastest human, Usain Bolt; the world’s most decorated woman sprinter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce; and Lennox Miller, a member of that pioneering 1964 KC team, have all left their marks on the Penn Relays.