Bennett, Riley shine brightest

WHEN LOCAL high-school athletes competed at the third staging of the PUMA EAST Coast International Showcase in Maryland, USA, recently, it signalled the final competition of the season where they would represent their institutions.

Competitions began in January at the various local development meets, before the showpiece ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships.

Edwin Allen regained their female title after getting by Hydel High School, who surprised them a year ago for their first hold on the Mortimer Geddes title. Kingston College made it three wins in a row to capture the male title.

There were excellent performances on the track and in the field by the athletes from the respective schools.

Some of those athletes went on to represent the country over Easter weekend at the Carifta Games in St George’s, Grenada, where they shone brightly.

The respective coaches did an excellent job to get their charges to compete at a high level for the entire season and must be commended. While all coaches did a great job, there are some who stood out.

Among the girls’ school coaches, pride of place went to Hydel’s Corey Bennett while Excelsior’s David Riley’s performance as head of their boys’ programme was eye-catching.

While neither could boast of earning the ultimate high-school title, Champs, their athletes had massive impact here and abroad.

With only a handful of athletes in their camps, both coaches had frightening results.

Bennett, for instance, went into the final day of Championships with a deficit of 48 points and ended losing Champs by 9.5, the difference of a race or two.

Things could have been different late in the day when one of Hydel’s top athletes fell in the sprint hurdle final.

Excelsior also achieved more than a team of its size would have been expected to at Champs, scoring more than 100 points and ending among the big teams, finishing in fourth place.

Hydel and Excelsior athletes also shone brightly for their schools at two International meets, the Penn Relays in Philadelphia and the PUMA East Coast Invitational meet.

Hydel were the most successful girls at the Penn Relays, winning the Championships of America 4x100 and 4x400-metre relays to regain both titles.

In Maryland at the East Coast Invitational, Alliah Baker, Abigail Campbell, and Natassia Burrell stood out.

Excelsior’s boys broke a 57-year-old drought to win the 4x100 metres Championships of America Penn Relays title. In Maryland, they were also the most successful high school team from Jamaica, winning two individual event through sprint hurdler Richard Hall and 400-metre hurdler Rajawn Davis. They also captured the 4x100 and 4x400m relay titles.