Track and Field

 Top 5 Moments of Champs

The ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships 2012 is all over and Calabar and Edwin Allen are boys and girls champions respectively. FastForwardReplay (FFR) has a compiled its list of arguable the top 5 Moments of the championships. While this proved to be a very tedious task, we eventually came down to the following contestants and events. *Drum Roll *

5. The fierce battle between Manchester High’s Shanice Porter and World Youth Champion Kimberly Williamson of Edwin Allen. The contest saw both jumpers breaking a nine year-old record held by Peaches Roache. Williamson eventually lost out to Porter in one of the biggest upsets of the championships. Roache’s record of 1.83m went up in smoke and with clearances at 1.84m; Porter went on to clear 1.86m to take the Gold.

4. The 4x400m relay was the last contested event on the track.  At this point, Calabar High were already declared winners and it was only fitting that the 2012 Champions won the event in a blistering 3:10.9s, the third fastest time ever at the championships. The boys from Red Hills Road were not expected to win, after favourites Manchester High had dominated the event all season but the momentum from being champs was enough to push the green and black clad boys to another gold medal and ultimate euphoria.

3. Calabar’s hurdler Michael O’Hara thrashed Jamaica College’s hopes of defending their title when he got by the highly favoured pair of Rohan Walker and Devaughn Baker in the Class Two 200m finals. O’hara who had earlier won the 110m hurdles, completed his double in a time of 21.56s. Walker had dominated the event all season but O’hara was determined to make his school’s 100^th anniversary a special one and no one would stand in his way, not even the once invincible Walker.

2. Rohan Walker and his teammate were embarrassed in the 200m but they were determined to make amends and the 4x100m relays would be the event. After the gun there  was no catching Jamaica College and the boys from Hope Road stopped the clock at 40.75 to set a new championship record, erasing the mark of 41.21 that was set by their seniors a year earlier.

1. FFR’s Moment of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championship goes to none other than Shauna Helps of the Wolmer’s High School for girls. Helps shattered the Class Three 100m record by clocking a blistering 11.50s, erasing the 11-years old record of Edwin Allen’s Lisa Sharpe (11.65). Helps did not stop there, she went on to cop the 200m title and ran a blistering anchor leg to give her team the 4x100m title as well. In the 4x100m relay Helps received the Baton in 3^rd place, 20m Metres behind leaders Hydel and with work to do the Wolmerian shifted into third gear; to produce the best 11 seconds of the championships.

*Special Mentions: The following athletes and events also made the Championships an unforgettable one: Kingston College’s Class One 4x100m triumph, Delano Williams of Munro College capturing the Class One sprint double, Raheem Chambers of St. Jago clocking a record 10.86s in the Class Three 100m, Wolmerian Christoffe Bryan’s record leap of 2.10m in the Class Two High Jump and Marleena Eubanks of Edwin Allen who captured the middle distance double (800m and 1500).

                                BOLT VS THE BEAST

The 2012 track and field season is just about on the way and the most talked about clash is Usain Bolt and his training partner, Yohan “The Beast” Blake. In 2011, Bolt and Blake took the sprints by storm. Bolt won the 200m world title, set the fastest time in the 100m and was a member of the Jamaican quartet that broke the 4x100m world record. Blake on the other hand, equalled Bolt’s performances; the National 100m Junior Record Holder, won the 100m world title and clocked a blistering world leading 19.26s in the 200m. His time was the second fastest in history, only bettered by Bolt’s 19.19s.

At the 2011 IAAF award ceremony, Bolt was named Male Athlete of the Year, while Blake walked away with Performance of the Year, for his run in the 200m.  In reverse, Blake was then named Jamaica’s Male Athlete of the year by the JAAA over his counterpart. Now it is 2012, The London Olympics are only a couple months away and long before that will be the Jamaican Trials and Diamond League Meets. The big question is, when will they first meet and over which distance? While Yohan’s best performance came in the 200m last year, FastForwardReplay (FFR) honestly believes that Bolt is unbeatable over that distance due to his physical structure, pace and majestic interactions with the curves. The big clash is therefore expected in the 100m. While Bolt is struggling to find the form he had in Beijing and Berlin, his biggest problem is still the slow start he has in an event where reaction time is key. Bolt has continued to depend on his top end speed and long legs to catch opponents at the 50m mark. However, will that be enough in 2012?

 While no one is daring to forget about Tyson Gay or Jamaican compatriot Asafa Powell, the big money is on a motivated and ever improving Yohan Blake. Blake, who has a personal best of 9.82s over the 100m distance, is far off from Bolt’s world record of 9.58s. However, with a better start and high riding momentum, the 22-year old seems to be getting faster each time he runs and could just do the impossible. The 100m is an average 10 seconds race, meaning it is over in the blink of an eye.  In an era where there are a handful of runners going sub 10, the winner on any given day will be the person to make the least mistake. 2012 will be a big year for track and field but will the current crop of sprinters remain dominate? Can Asafa Powell drop the tag of Choker? Will Tyson Gay return with enough zest from injury? Or will it be a two horse race again between Bolt and the Beast?