12 records established at Milo Western Relays

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

It was excitement galore at the new Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay on Saturday, as a grand total of 12 records were smashed when the Milo Western Relays return to the west in a blaze of glory, for what was a fabulous 33rd edition.

While the clubs/institutions 4x100m for men and women, which saw Olympians Asafa Powell and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce anchoring their respective teams to victory, the high school athletes were not left out of the spotlight as they accounted for seven of the records.

"It was a fantastic meet as all the athletes, inclusive of the top stars, gave of their very best. Asafa ran the 4x100m as though it was one of the major championships," said Harvey.

"My only disappointment is that we did not have more spectators in the stands," he added.

After impressive early performances from Lenford Adams, who won the men's 3,000m and Rosshieka Lee, who captured the women's 1,500m, the first record was shattered in the fifth event when Lansford Spence of Sprint Tech covered the 100m in 10:44 seconds, to erase Carl Barrett's old mark of 10:50, which was established in 2004.

Record-making

St Elizabeth Technical High School's (STETHS) boys were the next team to enter the record books as they blazed 40:12 to smash the 41:09 Holmwood Technical set for the Class One 4x100m in 2008. In fact, second-place Munro College (40.14) and third-place Wolmer's (40.99) also bettered the old mark.

Wolmer's Class Three boys were all but flawless as they took the 4x100m ahead of Herbert Morrison and Munro College in a record 44.70. In the very next race, Kingston College's Class Four boys joined the record breakers, beating back the challenge of Wolmer's and Claude McKay in clocking 46.31.

Edwin Allen High School became the first female team to enter the record books, when they upstaged Holmwood and STETHS, respectively, to waltz away with the Class Two 4x100m in a time of 45.32. Interestingly, Edwin Allen held the old record of 46.13, which they had established in 2006.

Holmwood's girls registered their only record of the day in the Class Three 4x100m, when they ran away from Herbert Morrison and STETHS, respectively, to register a fabulous 46.52, decimating the 2004 mark of 46.68, which was set by Edwin Allen.

Against a backdrop of spontaneous cheers, Asafa Powell and his MVP teammates Nesta Carter, Ainsley Waugh and Michael Frater unleashed raw speed as they took the club/institutions 4x100m with a stormy run. They not only left G.C. Foster and MoBay Comets soundly beaten, but their 38.56 bettered their previous record of 38.87.

Fever-pitch energy

With the energy in the stadium at fever pitch, Munro's Class One boys smashed the 4x200m record with an impressive 1:25.67, leaving STETHS and Green Island in their shadow.

In the next race, Wolmer's Class Two boys did the same to Munro and STETHS as they established a new mark of 1:28.94 in the 4x200m.

After being relatively quiet for most of the day, G.C. Foster registered back-to-back records in the men's and women's club/institutions 4x200. First, the men ran 1:23.72 to upstage the respective challenges of Swept Track Club and MVP and second, the women ran 1:35.18 to blunt the challenge of UTech and UWI.

While no records were broken in the 4x400m, which were run-off under the newly installed floodlights, the excitement was electric, especially for the club/institutions' events, which were chockful of Olympians.

Interestingly, those races ended in major surprises as the UTech women defeated the Brigitte Foster-Hylton-led MVP team to take the women's race and then their men's team spanked Asafa Powell and company for the male title.