St Elizabeth’s Blake aiming high

Shamer Blake made three trips on to his home track at St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) on the final day of the Western Championships last Saturday, and each one of them was spectacular. The first two earned him individual gold medals, and the last one was a sterling relay effort. The display is part of a plan that Blake hopes will put in the national junior record books.

He was impeccable in the Class One 110 metres hurdles final, covering the distance in 13.81 seconds despite strolling home after he crossed the last barrier. Asked if he had more to give in that race, he quietly replied, “Yes, a lot more, but you know, this is Western Championships. I don’t have to show what I have here. I just came out here to just give my school the nine points, and that was what I did.”

His plans centre around the 400m hurdles, and he didn’t ease up this time. He destroyed the meet record of 51.47 seconds, set by Javauney James on the synthetic track at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, with a stunning time of 50.62 seconds with one experienced hand timer clocking him at 50.9.

“I just went out there and did what my coach told me to do -get out slightly easy, and pick up as I go on - and that was what I did,” he said of his instructions from coach Marvin James.

He did seem to hesitate as he entered the homestretch, but the tall STETHS lad provided some clarity afterwards.

“I cleared the hurdle and then I looked back to see where my opponents were,” he explained.

Blake’s goal is lofty. Humble but ambitious, he’s looking past ISSA/GraceKennedy the Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) Class One 400m hurdles mark of 49.50 seconds by Roshwan Clarke for Camperdown last year.

“I’m going to see if I can get the junior record, which is 48.81,” he said as if challenging himself.

That mark, like the fastest ever at Champs by a Class One boy, belongs to two-time World Under 20 champion Jaheel Hyde.

“I don’t know if I can get it,” concluded the lad who fell in the 2022 race won by Clarke, “but I’ll give it my best shot.”

Anything close will put him alongside Hyde, Clarke, Javeir Brown, and Omar McLeod, who have all broken 50 seconds at Champs.

Blake’s last run on Saturday was a lead-off leg in the 4x400m, and he put STETHS well ahead with a 48.6 seconds effort and released his team captain, Jasauna Dennis, who stormed the Class One 400m final in 47.53. As Dennis approached the second exchange, the race was interrupted by a power outage, leaving the venue in darkness. Fans tried to help by using their mobile phones as flashlights, and the race was completed, but accurate timing was impossible.