BECKFORD...I had to come out here and lead by example.
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Edwin Allen’s Tonyan Beckford and the Excelsior High pair of Demarco Bennett and Daniel Wright all produced breathtaking performances to win their respective 400m hurdles titles to bring the curtains down on Friday’s third day of the 113th ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium.
Wright, who was sixth in the boys’ Class one event last year, bided his time throughout the event on this occasion, before producing a late burst in the stretch to win in a dazzling personal best 50.71s. He edged the Kingston College pair of Antonio Forbes (50.74s) and Shamari Jennings (50.83s).
Prior to that, Bennett proved too good for rivals in the boys’ Class two event, as he ran away an easy winner in 51.70s, ahead of Calabar’s Robert Miller (52.63s) and Taj-Oneil Gordon (52.35s) of Kingston College.
Meanwhile, in the girls’ Open event, Beckford, running from lane five, went out and a decent pace and basically covered the field on the backstretch before sprinting away from rivals off the curve to win in a brisk 56.70 seconds.
She led a one-two finish for the Frankfield-based Edwin Allen, as her teammate Natasha Fox (57.94s) was second, with Aaliyah Mullings (58.96s) of Hydel in third.
“The inspiration behind it is that I want my team to win and as you can see, I am the captain, so I have to come out here and lead by example,” Beckford said after the win.
Following those events, Edwin Allen surged to 184 points, 43 points ahead of reigning champions Hydel (141 points), while St Jago (81 points), Immaculate Conception (70.33 points) and Holmwood Technical (57 points), complete the top five.
On the boys’ side, Kingston College moved to 169 points, 36 points ahead of Jamaica College (133 points), with Calabar High (84 points), St Jago (74 points) and Excelsior (60 points) rounding out the top five heading into Saturday’s final day.
KC wins third straight Championship of America 4x400m title at Penn Relays; JC wins 4x800m
Kingston College made it three Championship of America 4x400m titles in a row with a comfortable win in the event on the third and final day of the 128th Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Their quartet of Antonio Forbes, Amal Glasgow, Roshawn Lee and Marcinho Rose combined to run 3:11.86 to win ahead of Excelsior (3:12.94) and Bullis School (3:13.10).
Elsewhere, Jamaica College won their second Championship of America 4x800m relay in three years.
Their team of Nellie Amberton, Samuel Creary, Rasheed Pryce and Kemarrio Bygrave produced a time of 7:42.37 to win ahead of St. John’s College (7:44.66) and Central Bucks West (7:45.99).
Excelsior leads Jamaican 1-2-3 in Championship of America High School Boys 4x100m at Penn Relays
Excelsior High emerged victorious in the Championship of America High School Boys 4x100m on the third and final day at the 128th Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Their quartet of Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green combined to run 40.45 to secure the school’s first win in the event since 1967.
Kingston College (Daniel Clarke, Yourie Lawrence-Clarke, Nyrone Wade, Marcinho Rose) were second in 40.53 and Herbert Morrison (Ky-Mani Hemmings, Tavaine Stewart, Chance Segree, De Andre Daley) completed a Jamaican 1-2-3 with 40.56 in third.
Smith produces season’s best to win long jump at Texas Invitational
Texas junior Ackelia Smith produced an NCAA leading performance to take top spot on day one of the Texas Invitational at the Mike A. Myers Stadium on Friday.
The 22-year-old reigning NCAA champion produced a season’s best 7.10m, her first jump over 7m this season, to win ahead of Trinidadian Puma athlete Tyra Gittens (6.72m) and UTSA’s Ida Breigan (6.65m).
This is a welcome return to form for Smith who suffered a torn hamstring at the NCAA Indoor Championships in early March.
Smith was Jamaica’s national champion in the long jump in 2022 and was a finalist in both the long and triple jump at that year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
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