Good start of Jamaica at Penn Relays

Jamaican High Schools have secured two gold medals on today’s opening day of the 116th edition of the Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.



Manchester High’s Chanice Porter won the first gold medal by capturing the High School Girls Long Jump Championship with a leap of 6.12 metres.



Jamaica dominated the medal podium with Nickeva Wilson of Camperdown winning silver with a leap of 5.80 metres and Nickiesha Beaumont of Holmwood taking bronze with a leap of 5.77.



St Elizabeth Technical High School’s (STETHS) Rochelle Farquharson won the second gold. She cleared 12.56 metres to win the High School Girls’ Triple Jump Championship. Melia Cox of Long Beach Polly in California cleared 12.41 metres for second place.



Earlier, Edwin Allen High’s Ristananna Tracey handed Jamaica their first medal.



Tracey took the silver medal in the High School Girls’ 400-metre hurdles Championship. She clocked 59.42 second to finish behind gold medal winner Leah Nugent of Abington High School, who recorded 59.15 seconds.



Jamaica’s other representative in the race Shana-Gay Tracey of Manchester High clocked 62.46 seconds for 11th place.



Jamaica won a third silver through Peta-Gaye Reid of STETHS who was second in the High School Girls’ High Jump Championship by clearing 1.76 metres.



Gold medal winner Tara Richmond of Long Beach Poly also cleared 1.76 metres.



Kathie-Lee Laidley of St Andrew Girls was sixth. She cleared 1.69 metres.



Close to 40 high school teams and six college teams from Jamaica are taking part in the three-day meet.