Big send-off for St Jago’s Prince
Published:Friday | April 8, 2022 | 12:09 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
In his final ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletic Championships, St Jago High School’s Gregory Prince ascended to the throne as king of the Class One 400 metres. Prince captured the title in 45.99 seconds to win ahead of Deandre Watkin of Jamaica College (JC) in 46.50. Shemar Palmer Manchester High came third in 46.79.
St Jago boys’ head coach Marlon Gayle said that the victory was years in the making and was pleased that he got the send-off that he deserved with the crown.
“From the preliminaries, we saw that he was executing and running his race in spite of anyone that was challenging. He learned over time from the mistakes of the past, and he is learning more as to what his body can do over 400m,” Gayle told The Gleaner.
Kingston College’s (KC) Marcinho Rose captured the Class Two title in 48.03 in a KC one-two with Tahj-Marques White in second with 48.39. Enrique Webster of St Elizabeth Technical came third in 48.90.
Manchester High’s Troydian Flemmings won the Class Three title in 50.25 ahead of JC’s Samuel Creary in 51.06. Demarco Bennett of Excelsior came third in 51.12
MAKING HISTORY
Meanwhile, Class One boys 100m champion Bryan Levell of Edwin Allen continued his quest for the sprint double, clocking 21.78 seconds to win his first-round heat of the 200m. He has already put himself into the history books by securing the school’s first-ever Class One individual sprint title and now hopes to continue what has been a great start to his championships so far. Adrian Kerr of KC had the second-fastest time with 21.79 and Wolmer’s Boys Ricquan Graham had the third-fastest time with 21.91 entering the half-lap semi-finals.A sprint double is also in sight for Jamaica College’s Mark Anthony Miller as the Class Two 100m champion qualified for the 200m semi-finals. Despite his comfortable run, it was Steer Town Academy’s Omarion Barrett who had the fastest time in qualifying in 22.26. Marcinho Rose of KC qualified the second fastest with 22.61, and Miller had the third-fastest time with 22.68.
With the 4x100m relays set to impact the title challenges of both KC and JC, the former only managed to qualify for two out of the three finals. They were disqualified in their Class Three first-round heat. KC qualified for the Class One boys’ final in 40.27, the fastest time among the field and the third fastest in Class Two with 42.26. However, JC qualified for all three class finals, giving them chances to close the gap on KC, who still hold the lead.
In the field, KC’s Necko Reid won the Class Three high jump with a leap of 1.75m on his first attempt. Kijaun Williams of Calabar also cleared 1.75m but needed three attempts. Zachary Merchant of KC was third with 1.70m.
After the third day of competition, Kingston College maintain their lead with 119 points, ahead of JC with 86.5, after 14 finals. Calabar and St Jago are joint third with 43 points.