Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Boys set stage for impressive Champs performances

Published:Wednesday | March 29, 2023 | 1:40 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
Kingston College’s Ainsley Campbell (left) wins heat two of the Class I Boys’ 400 metres at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships inside the National Stadium yeterday.
Kingston College’s Ainsley Campbell (left) wins heat two of the Class I Boys’ 400 metres at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships inside the National Stadium yeterday.

FOLLOWING THE conclusion of day one of the ongoing ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships, the stage has been set for what is expected to be a mouth-watering four days of action.

In the boys’ category of the championships, Kingston College’s Bouwahjgie Nkrumie’s composed 10.51 clocking in the heats of the boys’ Class I 100 metres was one of the standout performers.

He heads into the semifinals of the 100 metres with many looking to see if he will be the first athlete in the competition’s history to dip under 10 seconds.

Nkrumie could have his work cut out though, as Herbert Morrison’s DeAndre Daley will have questions of his own following his 10.65 clocking.

In the boys’ Class II section, the battle could be down to three athletes as the likes of Tremaine Todd from St Elizabeth Technical, Calabar’s Shaquane Gordon and defending champion Tavane Stewart, representing Herbert Morrison, all showed they were ready.

Stewart was the fastest of the three, clocking 11.00 seconds, while the reigning under-17 Carifta champion, Tremaine Todd, crossed the tape in 11.09, followed by Calabar’s Gordon in 11.10.

In the boys’ Class II 1500 metres, Kingston College’s Kenyan runner Nahashon Ruto leads all qualifiers following his calculated 4:14:85 clocking. He will have Yoshane Bowen, the event’s defending champion, to contend with as the Maggotty High representative was also a winner on the opening day with a composed 4:18:62.

Among the Class I athletes, Jamaica College’s Kemarrio Bygrave, 4:14.97 seconds, KC’s Ainsley Campbell, 4:13,10, and a quick-looking teammate in Ehtan Gioko, 4:11.06, could mean the winner is not a foregone conclusion. This is even as Bygrave has looked by far and away the fastest in the country.

St Elizabeth Technical High School’s Shamer Blake, 51.63 seconds, KC’s Antonio Forbes, 52.80, Edwin Allen’s Tyrece Hymen 51.26, all ran within themselves, setting up a 400-metre clash that should be of real interest.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com