Powered by Moscow World Championships mile relay silver medalist Jevon Francis on the backstretch and 2013 World Youth gold medalist Michael O’Hara on the anchor, defending Jamaica inter-secondary boys champions Calabar High School erased their own Class 1 and Jamaica high school boys sprint relay record of 39.95 set in 2009, with a scorching 39.61secs at the 38th renewal of the Gibson Relays in Kingston, Jamaica yesterday, February 22.
Later, in the final event of the night, the green-and-black uniformed Calabar returned to close out the meet with a new record of 3mins 07.00secs, thanks to a stunning 46.2 third leg by O’Hara, who closed an 80-meter gap to hand over in close second to Francis who ran home in 44.6secs for gold.
Calabar’s performance has given them much bragging rights and intensified weeks of argument over which relay team is most formidable going into next month’s Boys and Girls Athletics Championships (Champs) and the Penn Relays in April; is it Calabar, Kingston College (KC) or St. Jago with World Youth 400m champion Martin Manley? Meanwhile, the much anticipated Class 1 4x100m clash did not fully materialized, as KC running without their star sprinter Zharnel Hughes dropped the baton at the final exchange. Manley took home St. Jago in second place in 39.99 seconds.
In the very next race, KC’s Class 2 responded with a record of 40.65secs, erasing the old mark of 40.76 set by Jamaica College (JC) in 2012. Calabar was a distant second in 41.63.
Then, in what was yet two-way battle between Calabar and KC, Calabar’s Class 3 team destroyed the record they set in the heats of 42.65 with 41.83. St. Jago won the Class 4 4x100m in 45.39.
On the female side, 2012 Champs winners Edwin Allen High School took three of the four 4×1 relay finals: Classes 1, 3 and 4. In Class 1, they lowered Holmwood Technical’s seven-year-old record of 44.53 to 44.48. But Wolmer’s Girls School squad denied Edwin Allen a sweep with a super anchor leg by their CARIFTA 100m champion Shauna Helps; she stormed from behind to take her team into first place at the line in 46.19secs.
In another ongoing rivalry, Edwin Allen girls defeated archrivals Holmwood Technical in the 4x800m in 8:52.81. Holmwood was clocked at 8:53.65.
In highlighting the senior performances, Moscow World Championships fourth-place finalist Stephanie McPherson of MVP broke the 11-year-old record in the women’s 400m open with 51.23secs. In the Men’s Clubs and Institutions 4x100m, the Racers Lions team of Kenroy Anderson, Michael Frater, Olympic bronze and World Championships 200m silver medalist Warren Weir, and Olympic 100m and 200m silver medalist Yohan Blake, in that order, resisted the challenge of the University of Technology (UTech) to win in 38.13. UTech was second in 38.52 and Racers third in 38.66.
The field events also had their share of glory as competitors joined the party of record-breaking and outstanding performances. Former CARIFTA Games and Champs gold medalist Xavier Boland, now a student of G.C. Foster College, fought windy conditions to break the pole vault open record with 4.42m, erasing the mark of 4.41m he set in high school in 2012 when he was a KC student. According to the Jamaica Observer newspaper, Boland was not satisfied, but not disappointed either. “I would be disappointed, but I am happy that I broke the record. There is still a lot of room for improvement and I intend filling that gap,” he said.