Tanya Lee | Edwin Allen should go for it

The 2020 high school track and field season is already in high gear with a few development meets and records in the bag, but tomorrow, some of Jamaica’s most high-profile relay teams take centre stage for the Gibson McCook Relays at the National Stadium.

Most of the anticipation for 2020 resides on the girls’ side with Edwin Allen producing scintillating fireworks at every turn.

I’m still in awe of the stunning performance of their Class two 4x100-metre relay team at the Central Championships on February 19. Serena Cole, Brandy Hall and the speedster twins, Tina and Tia Clayton, sped to a magnificent 43.80 seconds, a Jamaican high school record for their age group.

What those four Edwin Allen girls achieved on that afternoon at GC Foster College was special, but ‘special’ has become Coach Michael Dyke’s new norm.

Consider this.

Only on five occasions have a Jamaican high school female team gone below 44 seconds. All five times were produced by Michael Dyke’s Edwin Allen teams!

This year, the girls from Clarendon have a chance to create even greater history and live up to their school motto Transeamus in Exemplum, which means “We shall be an example”.

The unofficial world high school record set in 2019 by Cole, the Clayton twins and the irrepressible Kevona Davis at the Penn Relays may be bettered on Saturday.

If these girls can correct the obvious issues with the baton changes, then they could easily threaten their previous mark of 43.62 that was done at the Penn Relays in 2019.

The next mark of significance is the Jamaican Junior record of 43.40 set in Kingston in 2002 by World Junior Championships quartet of Sherone Simpson, Kerron Stewart, Anniesha McLaughlin and Simone Facey. While this mark will test the ladies in light blue, it is not an impossible task.

Of course, the next milestone is the toughest, and if achieved would mark one of the greatest performances at this level of the sport.

That would be the world under-20 record set at 43.27 seconds by Germany in 2017.

The prospect of a Jamaican high school team breaking a world record is quite tantalising.

If Edwin Allen is to achieve this feat, Kevona Davis must join the team, which is likely to be at the Penn Relays.

I’m not sure if Dyke has that global target in mind, but wouldn’t it be something if he fielded that all-star team at the Gibson McCook Relays this weekend to compete against, and be pushed by, the senior women.

What a treat that would be. The girls are fit at present and conditions are likely to be perfect for sprinting, so if I had a say, I say go for it. The Penn Relays are in April and conditions are unpredictable. If they miss the mark on Saturday, they try again.

Whatever happens on Saturday, however, there is something significant about the brilliance being displayed by Edwin Allen. While we celebrate these performances, we hope we will see them again in years to come at the senior level. One Love.

Five times a female Jamaican high school team has gone below 44 seconds:

- 43.62 – Edwin Allen, Penn Relays 2019

- 43.80 – Edwin Allen Class 2, Central Champs 2020

- 43.94 – Edwin Allen Class 2, Milo Western Relays 2019

- 43.95 – Edwin Allen UTech Classic 2014

- 43.96 – Penn Relays 2018