STETHS, KC rise up to challenge JC 4x800 dominance

AT LAST year’s Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Jamaica College (JC), led by the outstanding J’Voughnn Blake, were too good for their opponents, coming off a record-breaking performance several weeks earlier at the Gibson McCook Relays.

They would go on to stop the clock at 7 minutes, 28.38 seconds for their second win at Penns in the High School Championship of America 4x800 metres relay.

But, unlike a year ago when they strode to those impressive performances, this time around, the defending champion won’t have it all their own way.

St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Kingston College (KC) will have something to say about who finishes atop the podium.

The event has been won by a Jamaican team every year since 2013 when Pleasantville High School out of New Jersey claimed the title.

Since then, Calabar High School has won it thrice, with inclusive of a record 7:26.09 in 2018.

Jamaica should finish in front again this year but whether or not Kemarrio Bygrave, a member of last year’s successful team, can lead their charge here is yet to be seen.

Bygrave will be hoping that teammates Omarion Davis, Tyrone Lawson and Rasheed Pryce will give him the necessary support to help them pull off the win.

The most successful team in the event, STETHS, will be gunning for title number nine, with their last win coming in 2017 when they were led by the outstanding Javauney James. They have the leading time so far this season of 7:35.08, which came at the Gibson McCook Relays in February. There was no JC in that event but they did get the better of a resilent St Jago team, who clocked 7:35.79.

That STETHS team, inclusive of Barrain Smith, Rashid Green, and Jaqueen Miller will be hoping they can rediscover their Gibson McCook form.

After an easy win at the Milo Western Relays in 7:49.92, KC, who won in 2007, will be hoping to break their long drought and pick up win number two.

They have a quality squad here, including the likes of Schevron Wardlow, Jaquan Coke, Rekleme Hunter and Nahashon Ruto, who could take them all the way.

While the eventual winners are a difficult prospect to divine, Bygrave on anchor, who should have recovered after the illness he had led to a dreadful Carifta Games in the Bahamas, where he failed to finish in both the 800 and 1500 metres, should do enough to take his team home to victory here.