Portmore Missionary fly high at Miami Classics

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Members of the Portmore Missionary Prep track and field team are still celebrating their impressive performance at the just-concluded Miami Classics which was held in the United States last weekend.

The St Catherine-based school captured a remarkable 15 medals which includes seven gold, four silver and four bronze medals. They surpassed last year's medal haul by one.

Five-year-old Kiev McDermott was one of Portmore Missionary's most outstanding athletes at the championships. He captured gold and silver in the 100m and 800m, respectively. McDermott also became the first student from Jamaica to compete in the 800m at the Classics. Leah Pearce, who is also five year-old, won gold in the high jump and a silver medal in the 100m.

Two gold for richards

Nicholas Richards, competing in the nine-to-10 age group, took home two gold medals after winning the 100m and long jump. Trevon Sterling won gold in the long jump in the seven-to-eight age group. Rajeah Young won a bronze medal in the boys' 11-12 discus throw.

Cynthia Williams, principal of Portmore Missionary, said she was very delighted with her athletes' performance at the cham-pionships.

"We are particularly elated about this year as we did not take our full team and we came home with our biggest medal haul since our entry into the Classics six years ago, with seven gold, four silver and four bronze medals," said Williams.

"A big thank you to our coaches Kevin McDermott and Angella Williams who worked assiduously to prepare our athletes both physically and mentally for competitions and also, our parents who have supported the programme over the years," Williams said.