Relays performance list shaken up by Corporate Area Champs

With Kingston College (KC) closing the show in style, the boys’ high school relay performance took a beating at the Corporate Area Development Meet, held at Jamaica College at the weekend. The rampage produced season-leading times in three of the four boys’ 4x100 metres relays, the medley and the 4x400m, a week ahead of the prestigious Gibson-McCook Relays.

Perhaps smarting from an upset loss to Excelsior High School the previous week at the Western Relays, KC installed Class One 400 hurdles winner Antonio Forbes and Class One 400m champion Amal Glasgow and they didn’t disappoint. Forbes covered his lap in 48.0 seconds flat to hand over behind Excelsior, but then Glasgow bludgeoned the challenge with an urgent 46.2 second leg. By the time the baton reached 2022 Carifta under-17 400m gold medal-winner Marchino Rose, he only had to get around the track, baton in hand.

With Rose clocked at 46.8, KC won in 3:08.82, ahead of Excelsior at 3.11.86. That’s faster than Excelsior’s winning time at the Western Relays, 3.13.72.

Earlier on, Excelsior beat Jamaica College with a season-leading time of 40.36 seconds in the Class One 4x100m relay. This team, with Damor Miller on the backstretch, now has three wins from three starts this season.

By comparison, the previous 2024 Class One 4x100m benchmark was 40.61 by Calabar on February 10.

With top sprinter Hector Benjamin off duty following a reported cramp two weeks ago, Jamaica College were nevertheless also faster than the Calabar benchmark at 40.46.

KC became the first school to break 41 seconds this year in Class Two, with a fine run of 40.98 and JC clocked an excellent 45.57 seconds to triumph in Class Four.

Not to be outdone, Calabar lowered their season-leading sprint medley time from 3.35.56 at the Camperdown Classic on February 10 to 3.32.23.

It’s no surprise that the boys’ relay performance list took a beating at JC. It’s a meet where the most successful boys’ teams in Champs history do battle. The same can be said for the girls with regard to Central Championships, which starts today at G C Foster College for Physical Education and Sport, in Spanish Town. If the Central girls followed the form of the Corporate bArea boys, there could be other revisions made to the high school relay performance list before a race is run at the Gibson-McCook Relays on Saturday, February 24.