Sonia Gaskin replaced some old marks – then Green really set the record straight.
Any doubt surrounding Barnett’s (Green) dominance was laid to rest with most of the Under-20 girls’ records after Parkinson Memorial’s champion house capped their fourth straight Powerade sports crown at the National Stadium yesterday.
With their star CARIFTA middle distance runner at the helm, Barnett amassed 710.5 points, surviving a spirited challenge from second-place Husbands (Red- 673.5) and Gilkes (Blue – 671) – who each accounted for three division champions – and Howard (Yellow – 649).
Yet none of the six could equal Gaskin’s feats as the pint-sized queen accounted for three of the four records to fall on the day, breaking the marks of two national athletes in the process.
But it was her own 800-metre mark that gave her the most acclaim, with Gaskin lowering last year’s previous best of two minutes and 24 seconds to 2:19.04 after running the entire race without company.
Janelle Inniss’ 400 record – set back in 1997 – didn’t stand much of a chance either once Gaskin left fellow CARIFTA athlete Shavonte Bradshaw (Gilkes) in the dust in a 57.81 clocking.
Bradshaw repaid her in kind in the ensuing 100 (12.72) though, and the resulting Under-20 division crown, but not before Gaskin replaced Jade Bailey’s 200 mark with a time of 25.05.
However, Bradshaw wasn’t to be left out of the record-setting acts, tying the high jump record of 1.50 metres to go along with prior victories in the long jump (4.90), javelin (37.61) and shot put (9.69).
The queen of the field added a second-place showing in the shot put for good measure in a meet-high 66-point tally.
And her teammate Tia Lashley had a similarly dominant showing in the Under-17 field events, winning the high jump, discus, javelin and shot put before coming second in the long jump for a division-leading 48 points.
Gilkes also accounted for the senior victor ludorum through the efforts of Hakeem Bailey, who totalled 63 points after sweeping the 200, 400, 800 and shot put.
The Under-20 king was second in the javelin as well and third in both the 100 and high jump.
But if there was an overall boys’ title, it probably would’ve gone to Husbands, as Tristan Harper, Renaldo Graham and Justin Trotman topped the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 division races.
Harper was a bastion for Yellow in the shorter races, doing the sprint treble while picking up a pair of silver medals in the high and long jumps for 46 points. Graham, the Under-15 champ with 37 points, also took the high jump to go with a shot put victory, after placing second in the long jump and third in the 800.
Trotman tallied 58 points from his eight events after winning the 400 and javelin; finishing second in the 1 500 and shot put; placing third in the 100 and discus and coming fourth in the 200 and 800.
