Kingston College and Hydel High emerged as the respective Boys and Girls title as the 2023 ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships came to an end at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

For KC, it is a second consecutive title and their 34^th overall while for Hydel, it is a first title breaking an incredibly dominant eight-year run for Edwin Allen.

KC finished with 366 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Jamaica College (299 points) while the top five was rounded out by Calabar (207 points), St. Jago (118.5 points) and STETHS (116 points).

Hydel finished with 279 points to top the Girls standings by only two points ahead of former champions Edwin Allen while the rest of the top five was rounded out by Holmwood Technical (202 points), St. Jago High (178 points) and St. Catherine High (116 points).

Some of the standout performances on the final day included Calabar’s Shaquane Gordon complete the Class 2 100m-110m hurdles double by running 13.42 to claim gold ahead of KC’s Kahiem Carby (13.59) and Daniel Clarke (13.80).

St. Jago secured the top two places in the Class 1 final through Demario Prince (13.42) and Andre Harris (13.79) while JC’s Daniel Beckford ran 13.83 for third.

St. Jago also had success in the Class 3 100m hurdles as Marquies Page ran 13.38 for victory ahead of Vere Technical’s Shawn Palmer (13.40) and St. George’s College’s Jahzi Walters (13.62).

World Under-20 silver medallist Alexis James of Petersfield ran 13.39 for victory in the Girls Class 1 100m hurdles ahead of St. Catherine High’s Asharria Ulett (13.59) and Edwin Allen’s Tonie-Ann Forbes (13.61).

In Class 2, Hydel’s Jody-Ann Daley completed an unprecedented 400m, 100m hurdles double by running 13.70 for victory ahead of St. Jago’s Bryana Davidson (13.89) and Excelsior’s Shelley-Ann Taylor (13.92).

The Class 3 80m hurdles was won by Wolmer’s Girls’ Tiana Marshall in 11.29. St. Catherine’s Akeelah Ellis ran 11.48 for second while Edwin Allen’s Angel Robinson ran 11.52 for third.

Wolmer’s Girls also took top spot in the Class 4 70m hurdles through Jadea Harris who ran 11.05 to narrowly beat Immaculate’s Ayanna Blake (11.08) while Excelsior’s Cordelia Gabbidon ran 11.30 for third.

In the field, KC’s Daijon Budhai threw 47.40m for gold in the Class 2 Boys discus ahead of Denzel Phillips of JC (45.98m) and Clarendon College’s Jospeh Salmon (43.33m).

JC’s Jaidi James took gold in the Class 2 Boys high jump with a clearance of 1.95m. Jonathan Grant’s Michael Neil was second with 1.90m while Kabiki Thomas of Wolmer’s Boys was third with 1.90m.

Three men were clear of 2.05m in the Class 1 Boys high jump, with KC’s Aaron McKenzie coming out on top ahead of JC’s Chavez Penn and St. Mary High’s Ovane Williams.

Moving into the 4x100m relays, the Class 1 Boys event was won by overall champions Kingston College in 40.01 ahead of St. Jago (40.40) and Edwin Allen (40.59).

Calabar took the crown in Class 2 in 40.41 ahead of KC (40.58) and St. Elizabeth Technical (40.74) while St. Jago won in Class 3 in 43.11 ahead of Wolmer’s Boys (43.12) and KC (43.21).

Hydel ran 44.33 for victory in the Girls Class 1 Girls final ahead of Edwin Allen (44.77) and Holmwood Technical (45.71).

Class 2 also saw Hydel take the title in 45.01 ahead of St. Jago (45.95) and Holmwood Technical (46.43).

Wolmer’s Girls continued their excellent Class 3 showing at the championships by winning the final in 45.81 ahead of Excelsior (46.41) and Edwin Allen (46.72).

Mount Alvernia won an extremely exciting Class 4 final in 48.54 ahead of Holmwood Technical (48.59) and St. Jago (48.83).

In the final Girls event of the championships, Edwin Allen won in 3:31.78 ahead of Hydel (3:34.57) and Holmwood Technical (3:36.46).  Hydel entered the race with a four-point lead over Edwin Allen knowing a medal would secure their maiden hold on the title.

Jamaica College ran 3:09.31 to win the Boys 4x400m ahead of Edwin Allen (3:10.09) and Kingston College (3:11.46).

Hydel High School has been doing well at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but their achievements might not have been possible save for the intervention of Express Canteen, whose last-minute efforts got the team on a plane to the USA earlier this week.

Hydel High's athletes have been blazing a trail of success and their girls’ team placed second at the recently-concluded ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships at the National Stadium.

In a media interview after the meet, Hydel’s head coach Corey Bennett revealed challenges that the school faced in securing funding for Champs and getting to the Penn Relays, noting that due to a financial shortfall they had to cut the number of members on their team.

Express Canteen, which caters to the school as its concessionaire, answered the call as they had done before and Bennett said it is testimony to the company's commitment to the development of some of the nation's finest athletic talent.

"The fact that the Express Canteen franchise has answered the call to lend their support to the Hydel High School team travelling to the Penn Relays shows once again their commitment to invest in Jamaica’s youth and the continued nurturing of their talents," Bennett said.

"We are sincerely appreciative of Express Canteen’s financial contribution towards our team, affording them the opportunity to compete amongst some of the best teams internationally.

"We would like to publicly thank the Express Canteen’s Management for their consistent and unwavering support towards the Hydel High School track and field programme."

The largesse was not lost on Hydel’s star sprinter Briana Lyston, who expressed her gratitude.

“The support for sports, and in particular the Hydel High’s Track and Field program, is truly important to us and most appreciated by us,” she said.

“The fact that some members of the corporate world continue to understand their importance to our development in the sport is simply great!”

Two of the events in which the Hydel High girls team will be participating are the 4x100 metres and 4x400 metres relays, in which they are favoured to battle for top honours, especially in the 4x100 metres where they came face to face with arch-rivals Edwin Allen and Ryan Foster, Chairman of Express Canteen, views their contribution as an investment in the next generation of athletes.

"Express Canteen is extremely proud of the exploits of all our schools at the recent Boys' and Girls' Champs. We believe in a holistic approach to our partnerships in schools, so when we saw the need of Hydel High to attend the Penn Relays it was an easy decision to support them," said Foster, who is also he is also the General Secretary/CEO of Jamaica's apex sporting body, the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA).

"We are extremely proud of Corey and his achievements with the Hydel track programme and believe this investment is not only an investment in Hydel but also the next generation of athletes that will become our future Olympians.”

 The Hydel High School team has also secured support from Florida-based SupaJamz radio and a perennial sponsor for Jamaican high schools competing at Penns, Team Jamaica Bickle.

Hydel High was the fastest qualifiers to the Championships of America High School Girls 4x400m final at the 2022 Penn Relays at the Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Thursday.

The team of Alliah Baker, Brianna Lyston, Kerrica Hill and Onieka McAnuff ran an impressive 3:39.34 to lead all qualifiers into Friday’s final.

Holmwood Technical (3:41.45), Edwin Allen (3:45.29), St. Jago (3:49.50) and Excelsior (3:51.15) also advanced to the final.

The region will also have two representatives in the 4x800m final, also scheduled for Friday, as both Edwin Allen (9:13.89) and Holmwood Technical (9:23.48) advanced from the heats.

Hydel High School’s Kerrica Hill set a new sprint-hurdles record on her way to two individual gold medals on Day 2 of the Central Championships at the G.C. Foster College on Wednesday as their rivals Edwin Allen comfortably won the girls’ title.

Edwin Allen’s Class I Girls 4x100m team stole the show at Saturday’s staging of the 2022 Gibson/McCook Relays at the National Stadium in Kingston.

The quartet of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brandy Hall and Tia Clayton had a string of flawless baton exchanges to eventually cross the finish line in a time of 43.37 seconds, a new meet record and high school world record.

They finished more than a full second ahead of Hydel who ran 44.40 for second place while St. Jago finished third in 45.50.

Edwin Allen also took the girls Class 4 4x100 in 48.81 and the 4x200m Open in 1:35.91.

Hydel High girls won the Girls Class 2 4x100m in 44.62 and the 4x400m relay in 3:33.76.

Holmwood Technical was also in record-breaking form in the Girls Sprint Medley with 3:55.77 to better the previous meet record of 4:00.83.

Meanwhile, Jamaica College’s 4x800m team was also in fine form, running a new meet record of 7:24.30 to finish almost 12 seconds ahead of second-place finishers Kingston College who ran 7:36.21. St. Jago was third in 7:45.46.

JC smashed the previous meet record of 7:31.71.

Kingston College won two of the four sprint relays, running 44.36 and 45.99 to win Classes 3 and 4, respectively.

The Class 1 4x100m was won by St. Jago in 40.26 ahead of JC (40.40) and St. Catherine High (40.50) while Calabar stormed to victory in Class 2 in 42.19 ahead of KC (42.26).

St. Jago also won the final event of the meet, the boys’ 4x400m in 3:10.48 ahead of KC (3:11.43) and JC (3:12.49).

JC won the Boys’ Sprint Medley in 3:30.82 ahead of KC (3:31.53) and Calabar (3:38.40).

There were also some standout performances from the seniors on display, namely Tissana Hickling and Lushane Wilson.

Hickling won the Women’s Long Jump in 6.70m and 100m in 11.85 while Wilson leapt to a new personal best 2.21m to win the Men’s High Jump.