Local athletes set to dominate individual events at Penn Relays

Performances in the relays have received the lion’s share of the spotlight, but Jamaican high schools have also done very well in individual events at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia in the United States.

This trend should continue this week as several of these athletes are highly ranked on the World Athletics Under-20 Top List.

After a magnificent season so far in both the triple and long jump events, where he has won the double at both the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) and the Carifta Games, Kingston College’s (KC) Jaydon Hibbert looks set to end his high school career on a high when he competes in the Championships of America High School Boys triple jump. The unbeaten Hibbert, who is ranked number one in both events among all juniors, will only contest the triple jump at the Penn Relays as both events take place simultaneously.

Hibbert, who won silver in the triple jump a year ago at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, has a leading mark of 16.66 metres and the University of Tennessee-bound athlete is expected to take top spot at the Penn Relays. Rajaun Ricketts of Jamaica College (JC) who finished second at Champs with 15.11m, is also down to contest the event.

JC’s Uroy Ryan, who was second to Hibbert in the Class One long jump at Champs, with 7.75m to Hibbert’s 7.87m, will be hoping to give Jamaica back-to-back wins in the event following Wayne Pinnock’s success in 2019. Petersfield High’s Rayon Walters and Demario Prince of St Jago High, with 7.32m and 7.28m, respectively, will also compete in the long jump.

EXPECTED TO BRING SUCCESS

Aaron McKenzie is expected to give KC their second individual success in the high jump. The Champs Class Two winner with 2.11m, topped his teammate, Verol Sam, who won in Class One with 2.05m. McKenzie will be eager to make up for his loss at the Carifta Games, where he ended third in the Under-17 category.

Edwin Allen High’s Christopher Young and Calabar High’s Kobe Lawrence, who finished first and second, respectively, in the Class One Boys’ Shot Put, look set to dominate in this event, where Young is the top seed with 19.37m and Lawrence, the second seed, with 18.86m. Young’s teammate at Edwin Allen, Trevor Gunzell, the Champs Class One discus winner, should complete a double success for the school. His season’s best 61.65m should make him hard to beat.

Following her disappointment at Champs in the Class One discus, where she was the overwhelming favourite to win but could only manage seventh, Holmwood Technical’s Cedricka Williams should shine in the event at the Penn Relays. Williams, who is ranked number two on the World Under-20 Top list with 53.91m, showed her pedigree at the Carifta Games with an impressive win in the under-20 event. She should ensure that the title remains in Jamaica following the win by Excelsior High’s Adrianne Adams in 2019. St Jago’s Abigail Marston and Camperdown High’s pair of Britannia Johnson and Victoria Christie are also in this event.

St Jago’s Anishka McDonald, the Carifta under-20 high jump champion, is expected to have a battle royal in the event with Toria Caven. Vere Technical’s Caven won in Class Two at Champs and has a season’s best of 1.78m, just behind McDonald, whose season’s best is 1.79m. McDonald did not compete at Champs.

Edwin Allen’s Serena Cole should close out a good meet for Jamaica when she contests the long jump. Ranked number two on the World Under-20 Top list with a best of 6.36m, Cole won in the Class One event at Champs and at the under-20 level at the Carifta Games.

Athletes will not get the chance to go for glory in the 400m hurdles, an event that Jamaica has dominated over the years. The organisers have removed it from the schedule for this year’s meet.