BIG GUNS MAKE EARLY MOVES
HYDEL HIGH School have been threatening to beat reigning ISSA/GraceKennedy Girls’ Athletic Championships queens Edwin Allen for the past four seasons, and Lamara Distin knows that she will have to stave off the ever-improving Janique Burgher in the Class One girls’ high jump for that to happen this time around.
Distin, who won the title while she was at Vere Technical last year, now represents Hydel, and it has sweetened the rivalry between herself and Burgher, as both are hungry to score the maximum nine points for their schools in this event.
They both only needed one attempt to clear 1.60m yesterday, the automatic qualifying height for the final of the event, scheduled for 6.15 p.m. on Friday.
Distin and Burgher are also aiming to break Chanice Porter’s seven-year-old record of 1.86m, with both already going close with personal-best clearances of 1.85m.
Distin has won all the duels between herself and Burgher so far this season. But it is Burgher who leads the class this year with 1.85m.
Meanwhile, St Elizabeth Technical’s Sherene Williams, the sister of Olympic bronze medallist Shericka Williams, led the way in the preliminary round of the Class Two girls’ shot put with a mark of 13.29 metres. She needed only two attempts to get to the distance (12.70m) that qualifies her automatically for today’s final, scheduled for 5:30 pm. She will have to look out for Wolmer’s Girls’ Aaliyah Whyte, who was the only other automatic qualifier with her 12.79 effort. She beat the favourite to win the gold medal, Monifa Edwards of Edwin Allen, who could only manage 12.34m on the day.
In the 800 metres, Kisahy Rowe of Spalding High School continued her dominance in the event this season with a reasonable 2:17.30 to top the qualifiers in the preliminary round of the Class Three event. Holmwood Technical’s Jodyann Mitchell was also outstanding in her heat with her 2:17.74 effort.
TIPPED TO WIN
In the Class Two event, last year’s semi-finalist, Daniella Deer, didn’t need to break a sweat to post 2:22.44 to secure a spot in the semi-finals. Edwin Allen’s Rushana Dwyer, who is tipped to win the race, finished second in her heat with 2:19.81 behind Holmwood Technical’s Aliya Johnson, who stopped the clock at 2:19.45. However, it was Cheriece Cope of Spalding High who registered the fastest time in the class with her 2:17.81 effort.
The 800m for Class One girls has been advanced to the semi-finals as there weren’t enough entrants.
Edwin Allen’s Kimone Reid and Johnelle Johnson will kick-start their school’s title defence when they contest the final of the Class One Girls discus throw at 5:05 p.m. today.
Reid threw 44.06m to advance to the final, while her teammate managed 42.86. But favourites Shamella Donaldson and Adrienne Adams of Russea’s and Excelsior, respectively, seem set to reduce the number of points the girls from Frankfield amas in this event. Donaldson, who is in her final year in the class, threw the disc to 47.52 metres, while Adams registered a mark of 46.06.
In the 200m heats, Brianna Lyston, 23.98, is the fastest qualifier in the Class Three heats, with the other main players, Tina Clayton (Edwin Allen), 24.27, and her twin sister Tia (24.54) also progressing comfortably.
In Class Two, Edwin Allen’s Kevona Davis was easy in winning her heat in a time of 23.77 seconds.