PHILADELPHIA – One of the most anticipated upsets at the historic 130th Penn Relays Carnival unfolded on Friday during the meet’s second day at Franklin Field, where Michael-Andre Edwards of Jamaica College delivered a career-defining performance to shatter a 10-year high school boys’ triple jump record that had stood since 2016.
Going into the competition, the 16.01m record set by former Jamaica College athlete O’Brien Wasome had long been flagged as vulnerable. Edwards proved that prediction correct in the third round of jumps, when he landed a 16.26m leap with a -0.1m/s wind to push past the old benchmark. Refusing to settle, the young jumper topped his own new mark in the very next round, clocking a personal best of 16.29m with a 0.8m/s tailwind that secured his place in the event’s history books.
In post-competition comments, Edwards acknowledged he had targeted the record long before stepping onto Franklin Field’s iconic track, driven in part by the connection of the previous record holder to his own school. His consistent dominance across the entire competition was remarkable: after setting the new record, Edwards delivered two additional jumps that cleared 16.12m, rounding out a standout series of performances that outpaced every other competitor in the field.
Edwards’ win also extended Jamaica’s unbroken streak of dominance in the event to five consecutive years. Even the second-place finisher, American Mile Nesmith of Memphis Central High School (Tennessee) – the holder of the U.S. high school indoor record – turned in an impressive performance that broke Wasome’s old record, landing a 16.18m jump with a 0.4m/s wind, but still fell short of Edwards’ historic mark.
The event saw multiple other Jamaican athletes place in top positions, reflecting the nation’s continued depth in track and field jumping events. Rekelme Hunter of Kingston College took third place with a 15.41m jump, Kabiki Thomas of Wolmers’ Boys School claimed fifth with 14.77m, Antonio Anderson of Calabar High took sixth with 14.75m, and Wolmers’ Boys School’s Roshane Francis followed close behind in seventh with 14.74m.
In other jumping events at the carnival, Santino Distin of St Elizabeth Technical notched a season-best 2.06m to earn third place in the high school boys’ high jump. The event was won by Ryan Buskey of Colonie Central High School in New York, who cleared 2.14m, while Darius Reid of Upper Perkiomen High School in Pennsylvania took second with a 2.09m clearance.
In the high school boys’ long jump, Jamaica also placed multiple athletes in the top ranks. Jaivar Cato of Jamaica College finished fourth with a 7.11m jump, Omarion Miller of Kingston College took fifth with 7.06m, and Talshawn Edwards of Calabar High secured sixth place with a 7.04m leap.