In what could be described as another memorable chapter in the rich history of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships at Kingston's National Stadium, former high school track stars Daniel England and Anneisha McLaughlin-Whilby were honoured with the first-ever GKMS Western Union Icon Award, presented by title sponsors GraceKennedy Money Services.
Throughout his high school career, England, who was popularly known as “The Little Warrior”, ran undefeated over the 400m and lost only once in the 200m during his four years representing Calabar High School leading them to titles in 1988, 1989 and 1990. His only loss came at the hands of St Jago’s Donovan Powell, the elder brother of former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell.
England’s legacy at Calabar remains unparalleled and he expressed his heartfelt gratitude upon receiving the prestigious award. "It is an honour to be recognized," he remarked, his voice tinged with emotion. "It was a pleasure. I thank God. I thank Herb McKenley, I thank the Calabar Old Boys for supporting me over the years and I just appreciate it. I am feeling overwhelmed. It was an exciting moment and I am just glad to be here and to be able to know what I did in the past has some value for the future."
Boasting a similar legacy that featured 19 gold medals throughout her illustrious high school career during which she set many records, one of which still stands today, McLaughlin-Whilby’s incredibly versatile talents in the 200m and 400m led Holmwood Technical to girls’ titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and laid the foundation for the school’s nine consecutive championships.
Her Class 3 400m record of 52.52 set in 2001 still stands today after more than two decades.
In her final year, McLaughlin-Whilby defeated one Shelly-Ann Fraser to win the Class 1 100m dash to end her high-school career on a winning note.
Equally moved by the recognition, she shared her surprise and joy at being bestowed with the iconic award. "It was a big surprise. I really thought I was here to do medal presentations but I am very appreciative and very happy that my achievements have been recognized," she expressed, her gratitude evident in every word. "I am very proud of all that I did in high school. I still have a record at champs but this is an addition and I am very appreciative.”
As McLaughlin-Whilby spoke, her twin daughters, already showing signs of following in their mother's legendary footsteps, added a touch of poignancy to the moment. "They actually are (following in her footsteps). They had sports day today and they finished first and second," she proudly declared, embodying the spirit of athletic excellence that runs in the family.
Gabriel Heron, Head of Business Transformation at GraceKennedy Money Services, underscored the significance of honouring Jamaica's sporting icons. "I must give kudos to the team because it goes back to our GraceKennedy mantra 'We Care'," he affirmed while speaking exclusively to Sportsmax.TV. "And in really thinking through the concept, we came up with how can we show and give respect to individuals who really laid the foundation for Boys and Girls Championships."
Heron emphasized the importance of recognizing the legacy and contributions of athletes like England and McLaughlin-Whilby in shaping Jamaica's sporting heritage. "This whole idea of nation-building surrounding the championships, this element of it is a part of it," he stated. "It’s showing the history that we must always be grateful and show support for the individuals that laid the foundation.
“For the persons who were in the audience, you could see that there was a strong connection and the memory that it would have recalled seeing Daniel England flashing around the bend, seeing Anneisha with her hair bouncing around the bend, those kind of memories come back to us and also reinforces the history of Champs and where we’re coming from as well.
“And as a company we really revel in that and we should be proud of those moments and we should always and consistently recognize our sports icons in all facets of life and this was a critical moment.”
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Maloney sets new national record to win 400m at Arkansas Twilight; Nugent, Lemonious also secure wins
St. Vincent’s Shafiqua Maloney and Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent and Phillip Lemonious all secured wins at Friday’s Arkansas Twilight in Fayetteville.
Maloney, unbeaten so far this season in the 800m both indoors and outdoors, showed her class on Friday in the one lap event, speeding to a new personal best and national record 50.75 to take top spot.
Her time was also an Arkansas Twilight record, bettering Britton Wilson’s 50.97 set in 2022.
American Kendall Baisden was way behind in second in 52.91 while Sudan’s Hiba Saeed was third in 53.45.
2023 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor champion and world championship finalist in the sprint hurdles, Ackera Nugent, tried her hand successfully at the 200m on Friday. She ran a season’s best 23.12 to win ahead of 400m podium finishers Hiba Saeed (23.49) and Kendall Baisden (23.58).
Phillip Lemonious, who also took sprint hurdles gold at the NCAA Championships last year, ran a season’s best 13.52 to win the event on Friday ahead of Arkansas’s Elijah Morris (13.70) and Brevin Sims (13.73).
Lyssons top INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Eastern Champs
Lyssons Primary Schools of St Thomas continued their dominance of the INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Eastern Championships winning their third consecutive title in impressive fashion winning by a massive 128 points at the Stadium East, on Friday.
Lyssons amassed 274 points and were well clear of Harbour View who are second for the second year with 146 points. Lawrence Tavern with their best showing were third on 139.5 points ahead of Hal-Way-Tree with 132 and St Richard’s rounding out the top five on 128.5 points.
Lyssons who are also the All-island champions, walked away with a whopping $350,000 with second-placed Harbour View of St Andrew collecting $250,000. Lawrence Tavern also of St Andrew received $200,000. The fourth to 10th-placed teams each got $100,000.
On a day when a plethora of records were broken, four boys shared the Overall Champions Boys title with 18 points each. Davere Walker and Mickoloy Saunders of Lyssons were joined by Samir McLarty of George Headley Primary and Joshua McWilliams of Lawrence Tavern all walked away with $30,000 each.
Arianna Lewis of Half-Way-Tree Primary was the Overall Girls Champion with 18 points. She broke the Class Three 150m record for the second time at the meet. Yesterday she ran 21.25 in the heats and went better in the final clocking 21.13.
Up next will be the Central Championship starting on Monday at the GC Foster College for the parishes of St Catherine, Clarendon, St Ann and Manchester. Spanish Town Primary are the defending champion.
Defending champion Lyssons hold the lead heading into final day of INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary School Eastern Championships
Defending champion Lyssons Primary of St Thomas have established a 19-point lead after 11 finals heading into the final day of the INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Athletics Eastern Championships.
Lyssons, hunting their third straight title, raced to 86 points, with St Andrew’s Harbour View on 67 sitting in second and Rosseau Primary of Kingston in third on 49 points with a lot of catching up to do. Half-Way Tree Primary on 40, and Windward Road with 37 complete the top five.
Lyssons won four of the 11 finals with Kristina Bailey capturing the Girls’ High Jump Open with a leap of 1.45m, the same as second-placed Shaniel White of Windward Road. Cataleah Fitten of John Mills was third with 1.39m.
They also won three of the eight relays starting with the Girls Class I 4x100 relay in a record 52.36 seconds. Lessons also won the Boys’ Class Two 4x100 in 54.12 and the Girls’ Class 4 4x100 in 1:02.13.
Harbour View’s Vanessa Melbourne won the first final of the meet throwing 37.35m to win the Girls’ Cricketball Open. Harbour View also won Boys’ Class Four 4x100 relay in 1:01.31.
Half Way Tree Primary won two relays capturing the Girls Class Three 4x100 relay in record fashion clocking 55.49 and the Girls’ Class Two 4x100 in 53.90.
Windward Road were also in record-breaking form winning the Boys’ Class Three relay in 55.04 ahead of Harbour View with 55.53.
Rosseau Primary erased the Boys’ Class One 4x100 record of 51.94 lowering it to 50.54, the same time as second-placed Lyssons. St Richards were third in 51.12.
There will be 29 finals on the third and last day starting with the Girls’ long Jump Open at 9:00 am and concluding with the 4x200m relays at 3:30 pm.
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