JC’s Bygrave holds the key to Gibson-McCook 4x800m
WHEN KEMARRIO Bygrave left his lane empty for the final of the Class One 800 metres at last week’s Corporate Area Championships, alarm bells went off. After all, the outgoing Jamaica College (JC) senior had been expected to give a command performance on his home track at Ashenheim Stadium. Happily, the alarms have subsided in time for the Gibson-McCook Relays.
Bygrave did a dental procedure during the week and while he felt good enough to run his first round preliminary race, he woke up on finals day with a puffy jaw and some discomfort. Had he been able to run and win, Bygrave would have completed a JC sweep of the 800m final. In Class Three, Cavell Nooks ran against the clock in both rounds and recorded impressive times of 2.01.46 and 2.01.56 with his teammate Camron Williams a strong second in the final.
In Class Two, former Class Three Boys’ Championships (Champs) winner Samuel Creary sailed away from his rivals in 1:54.47.
With Bygrave absent, Kingston College’s (KC) comeback kid Jaquan Coke produced a massive personal best – 1:51.59 seconds – to win the gold ahead of Excelsior’s Keandro Gordon, 1.52.47.
In the Corporate Area heats, Bygrave strolled 1:53.53. That makes him number three on the yearly high school performance list.
Just a week earlier at the Western Relays, Coke had anchored KC to an easy season-leading 4x800m time of 7:44.89 with a baton carry timed in 1.54.5.
Coke’s story is noteworthy. Since Class Three at Champs in 2019, he slipped down the KC middle-distance pecking order. Instead of running individual races at Champs, he has become a reliable anchorman on the sprint medley, giving his school victory in 2022 and 2023. Now, in his final year, he has emerged as KC’s number one in the 800m.
He also placed second in the Corporate Area 1500m final to his Kenyan teammate Ethan Gioko, with a runner-up personal best effort of 4:04.40.
KC last won in 2018, but with Bygrave hale and hearty, JC will be aiming to win a third consecutive Gibson McCook 4x800m title with Creary and strong Vincentian Nellie Ambritron in coach Duane Johnson’s JC group as well.
The 2022 victory was memorable as JC stormed to a record time of 7:24.30 with Jhevaughn Blake, St Vincent’s World Under-20 representative Handal Robban and Bygrave in top form.
Bygrave’s best 800m time was set last year – 1:50.20 – and most observers expect him to break the 1.50 barrier at some point this season. His speed levels are high, given that he has already run 47.54 seconds for 400 metres.