PURPLE REIGN AND A BLUE HEAVEN
- KC storm to boys’ Champs title number 33 - Edwin Allen win eight straight
Published:Sunday | April 10, 2022 | 12:14 AMDaniel Wheeler and Robert Bailey - Gleaner Writers
THE MORTIMER Geddes Trophy is heading back to the purple side of North Street while the girls’ title will not leave Frankfield, Clarendon, for yet another year.
The 2022 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) concluded with Kingston College (KC) and Edwin Allen High completing their processions towards the boys’ and girls’ titles, ensuring that there would not be any room for comebacks on yesterday’s final day of competition.
For KC, it is their second title in four years, while Edwin Allen continued their recent dominance with their eighth straight title, and ninth overall. This year’s results mirrored those of 2019, the last Champs to be held with fans in attendance before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the competition in 2020 and forced it to be held without fans in 2021.
But the fans returned in their numbers this year to witness a familiar conclusion.
KC entered championship Saturday with a 62.67-point lead over 2021 champions Jamaica College, while Edwin Allen had a 48-point advantage over second-place Hydel.
On the way to cementing those positions, there were some moments for others.
On Championships Saturday, Hydel’s Brianna Lyston earned redemption after her second-place finish in the Class One girls’ 100m final. Lyston smashed the Class One girls’ 200m record, clocking 22.53 seconds to capture the title, in a race that never looked close.
Hydel High head coach Corey Bennett said the record run was a much-needed confidence booster after Lyston fell short in the 100 final and after she had a few years in the proverbial wilderness.
“We had to fix a few things. We had to try to get her healthy and keep her healthy and get her to believe in herself again. She lost a lot of belief,” Bennett said. “But she is still developing a lot and she is now reaping the fruits of her labour.”
In Class Two, Edwin Allen’s Theianna-Lee Terrelonge completed the sprint double, winning the half-lap event in 23.91 ahead of 400m champion Sabrina Dockery of Lacovia High in 24.30. Adrian Wright of Holmwood Technical was third in 24.44.
Class Three produced another sprint double in the form of Wolmer’s Girls’ Natrece East, winning the title in 24.62. Janelia Williams of Excelsior was second in 25.34, while Sashana Johnson of Hydel High was third in 25.43.
Two sprint double winners emerged in the aftermath of the boys’ 200m finals as Edwin Allen’s Bryan Levell, the school’s first Class One 100m champion, added the 200m crown to his collection, winning in 20.77 seconds, ahead of Deandre Watkin of Jamaica College in 20.84. St Jago High’s Gregory Prince, the Class One boys’ 400m champion, was third in 20.92.
Levell said he was grateful to be the school’s first boys’ Class One double sprint champion and hoped this was the beginning of the school’s rise as a sprinting force.
BIG MOMENT
“It’s a big moment knowing that I came out and did this for my school, my teammates, my family. This performance bodes well for the boys knowing that they can look up and say they want to run faster,” Levell said.
Mark Anthony Miller added the Class Two 200m title to his 100m crown, winning in 21.82. Steer Town Academy’s Omarion Barrett was second in 21.97 while Enrique Webster of St Elizabeth Technical High was third in 22.15.
Calabar’s Nickecoy Bramwell captured the Class Three title after falling short in the 100m final.
The records also kept falling on Championships Saturday as Hydel’s Kerrica Hill, 24 hours after lowering the Class Two 100m hurdles record and equaling the World under-18 record, saved her best for the final day. In the Class Two girls’ final, she set a new mark of 12.71 seconds, claiming the world youth record for her own.
With the boys’ title secured, Kingston College’s Class Two boys’ 100m champion Jadan Campbell said he couldn’t wait to celebrate with the student body after putting the bow on a strong season.
“It will be a big celebration for KC. We have trained very hard this season and we came out here on a mission and that mission (has been completed),” Campbell said.