Western schools sparkle at Milo Relays

Paul Clarke, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:

On a day of excitement and intrigue, Munro College, Supreme Preparatory, and Barracks Road Primary emerged as the toast of western Jamaica, copping three of the 10 records that tumbled at last Saturday's Milo Western Relays in Montego Bay.

Munro smashed the Under-19 boys 4x400m Open record by racing to a time of 3:13:12, erasing the old mark of 3:15:01, which was held by Kingston College. Interestingly, Kingston College was second place in 3:18:11, while Wolmer's Boys clocked 3:19:56 for third place.

In addition to their record run, Munro also tasted victories in the Class Two boys' 4x200m, where they stopped the clock at 1:30:18 to beat Wolmer's and Kingston College into second and third places, respectively; and in the Class Four 4x100m, where they ran 49:14 to finish ahead of Kingston College and Green Island.

Supreme Preparatory and Barracks Road Primary, which contested the Preparatory/Primary category, were both quite good in breaking the old marks for the Under-13 4x100m for boys and girls, respectively.

Supreme Prep won the Under-13 boys 4x100m, with their record run of 53.53, beating St James Preparatory and Montego Bay Preparatory, which had times of 53.78 and 56.28, respectively. Barracks Road Primary ran a sparkling 55.08 seconds to erase the girls 4x100m record.

Among the other western schools which sparkled on the day was Green Island High, which won the 4x200m relay ahead of Wolmer's and Holmwood Technical in a time of 1:25.51. World Youth 100m champion Odail Todd ran the second leg for Green Island in that event.

The Green Island team, which is preparing steadfastly in the hope of attaining a podium finish at the upcoming Boys and Girls' Athletics Championship, featured Todd, Chadwayne Vidal, Gremeiko Whitelocke, and Neeno Symister.

BACK TO DRAWING BOARD

"It was a good race for us. There were mistakes, but we managed to get the baton around, and that was the most important thing," said Whitelocke. "Right now, we are going back to the drawing board to iron out the issues ahead of Gibson Relays and Champs."

The Hanover-based school also took top honours in the Boys' Class Two 4x100m, registering a time of 43.64 seconds. Garvey Maceo was second in 45.05, and St James High third in 45:45 seconds.

The fast-improving Petersfield High School also gave a creditable performance to finish third in the girls' 4x400m in a time of 4:01.05 behind powerhouses Edwin Allen (3:39.31) and Holmwood Technical (3:40.69).

Petersfield just missed the podium in the girls' 4x200m Open, copping fourth place. Holmwood, Edwin Allen, and William Knibb took the three top places.

Another noteworthy performance from the west came from Herbert Morrison's Burnett Allen, who won the Men's 400m in a time of 54:00 seconds, beating Tyrone Henry (54.37) of York Castle and Godfrey Stewart's Cruz Billings (54.37) into second and third places, respectively.