St Jago’s boys set for big performance at Champs
TWO-TIME boys’ champions St Jago High are set to have one of their best performances in many years at next week’s ISSAGraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs).
Head coach Bertland Cameron has a strong Class Three team led by the outstanding Marquies Page and the Spanish Town-based school is expected to dominate the class and tally 81 points while nearest rivals Kingston College are expected to get 63 points.
Page, in an earlier interview with STAR Sports stated that he was encouraged to attend St Jago by his aunt, former St
Jago athlete Kashain Page, and he is on a mission to maintain the family’s good name in track and field at the school.
The defending Class Three 100-metre hurdles champions he looks a cinch to retain his title and to add the flat 100m and give his team 18 solid points.
A year ago he clocked 13.38 seconds running in a negative 1.3 metres per second wind. Page has a season’s best of 13.01 a time he clocked at the Ashenheim Stadium earlier in the year and he has been in awesome form since the start of the year. He will be aiming to break the 2018 record of 12.87 set by former Jamaica College (JC) hurdler Neil Matthew Sutherland. Teammate Roniel Burke should also do well in the hurdles event.
Page will also be eyeing the 100m record of 10.69, set by another JC athlete Christopher Scott in 2019 and if he gets strong competition he could improve time on his season’s best 10.89 and put his name in the record books. He could get a third gold medal at the championships as he will anchor his school’s 4x100m relay team. The team also looks set to get solid points in the 400m where event leader Roshane Richards, with a season’s best of 50.24 at the Central Athletics Championships, should go all the way. Andre Boyd should add to the points tally here and also in the 100m as he is ranked fifth in both events. In other track events, Ajani Williams in the 800m along with Phillip Palmer and Cory Christie in the 1500m should give the Monk Street-based team quality points. Palmer is ranked third in the 1500m with 4:22.55. Nikaro Johnson and Winaldo Faulknor are also tipped to do well in both the long and high jumps. With a solid showing in Class Three, St Jago look set to end up with 154 points, and fourth overall in the Boys’ Championships. This will better the 118 they gained a year ago and could be crowned the most improved team.