分类： sports

PHILADELPHIA – As the 130th annual Penn Relays Carnival enters its final stretch at the historic Franklin Field, the stage is set for a potentially legendary finish to day two’s competition: the High School Girls’ 4x400m Championships of Americas final, which has already turned heads thanks to an unprecedented performance by Jamaican programs in Thursday’s preliminary rounds. In an outcome that has shocked track and field observers, three separate Jamaican squads all clocked times under the 3-minute 40-second barrier during qualifying — a mark that few elite high school relay teams ever hit, let alone multiple squads from a single country in the same competition. Leading the pack is Hydel High School, the pre-meet favorite chasing an unprecedented fourth consecutive Penn Relays title in the event. Hydel’s team posted a blistering qualifying time of 3:39.55, edging out fellow Jamaican powerhouse Edwin Allen High by just one hundredth of a second. Edwin Allen clocked 3:39.56, while third-ranked Jamaican entry Holmwood Technical rounded out the sub-3:40 trio with a time of 3:39.82. The dominant showing by Jamaican programs puts the top United States contender, Bullis School from Potomac, Maryland, in an underdog position heading into Friday’s final. Bullis posted the fourth-fastest qualifying time overall at 3:40.24, just narrowly missing the sub-3:40 mark that three Jamaican teams easily cleared. Joining Bullis and the four Jamaican squads (Alphansus Davis High also advanced with a 3:44.81 clocking) in the final are Bishop McNamara, another Maryland-based program, which ran 3:43.33 to qualify. The remaining eight spots in the 12-team final went to Immaculate Conception (3:47.08), St Elizabeth Technical (3:47.44), Sydney Pagon STEM Academy (3:47.92), William Knibb Memorial (3:48.77), Manchester High (3:51.63), Alpha Academy (3:54.72) and Port Antonio High (3:59.83). Track analysts note that the preliminary performance cements Jamaica’s reputation as a global powerhouse for youth sprinting, and Friday’s final is already being billed as one of the most competitive high school sprint relay events in the 130-year history of the Penn Relays, one of the oldest and most prestigious track and field meets in the United States.

In a thrilling matchday of the Jamaica Premier League at Drewsland, a series of unexpected results have upended both the relegation battle and playoff contention in the third round of fixtures on Thursday. The most dramatic storyline came from the clash between Treasure Beach and top-flight side Waterhouse FC, where the underdog Treasure Beach pulled off a stunning 2-1 upset that lifted them out of the relegation zone – at least for the time being.

Treasure Beach entered the match mired in a nine-match winless drought, the worst slump in the league this season. But Karim Bryan broke the deadlock for the side in the 26th minute, and Jaheim Harris doubled their advantage just after the hour mark in the 64th minute. While Waterhouse forward Javane Bryan netted a late consolation goal in second-half stoppage time, the club missed a subsequent penalty that would have earned them a shared point, leaving the upset result intact. The three points lifted Treasure Beach to 34 total points, pushing them one point clear of Harbour View, who slipped back into the relegation zone after a lopsided defeat earlier in the day’s doubleheader.

That opening fixture of the Drewsland doubleheader saw Dunbeholden FC run riot over Harbour View, securing a dominant 4-0 win that ended their own two-match winless skid. The win was anchored by a first-half brace from Odane Samuels, who found the back of the net in the 35th and 40th minutes. Shakeen Powell extended the lead in the 71st minute, and Marlon Allen put the finishing touches on the rout seven minutes later to cap off the lopsided result.

Elsewhere at the Anthony Spaulding Complex, Arnett Gardens dealt a major blow to defending champions Cavalier SC’s bid for playoff qualification, earning a critical 2-1 win that tightens the race for the postseason. Kevaughn Wilson was the star of the contest, scoring a first-minute opener and adding his second just after halftime in the 47th minute. Though substitute Adrian Reid pulled one back for Cavalier in stoppage time to give the champions hope of a late equalizer, Arnett Gardens held firm to secure the full three points. The result leaves sixth-place Cavalier with 52 points, holding just a three-point advantage over seventh-place Arnett Gardens, with the gap between the two playoff contenders closing significantly.

At Drax Hall, Mt Pleasant FA put an end to their own three-match winless drought with a dominant 5-2 victory over Chapelton Maroons, after the two sides entered halftime deadlocked at 2-2. Raheem Edwards got Mt Pleasant on the board first in the third minute, only for Robino Gordon to equalize for Chapelton in the 32nd minute. Daniel Green restored Mt Pleasant’s lead six minutes later, but Leaunghn Williams once again drew Chapelton level right before the halftime whistle. The second half belonged entirely to Mt Pleasant, however: Kimoni Bailey reclaimed the lead for the side in the 56th minute, Jabarie Howell extended the margin to 4-2 in the 84th minute, and a late own goal by Chapelton in the ninth minute of stoppage time closed out the scoring. Chapelton, who have now dropped back-to-back matches, slipped to ninth place in the league table following the defeat.

In the final fixture of the round, Portmore United secured a narrow 1-0 win over Spanish Town Police at Royal Lakes, despite being reduced to 10 men just after the hour mark. Nickoy Gayle was sent off in the 52nd minute, forcing Portmore to play a man down for more than 30 minutes. Tarick Ximines provided the decisive moment for Portmore, scoring the match’s only goal in the 63rd minute to hold on for the full three points despite the numerical disadvantage.

Jamaica’s senior women’s national football team, the Reggae Girlz, stands on the cusp of making regional history, but two former top team leaders are emphasizing that meticulous, long-term preparation will be the key to locking in qualification for both the 2025 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics later this year.

Currently, the Reggae Girlz are just one win away from booking their spot in a third consecutive World Cup. After dominating Group B of the Concacaf Women’s Championship qualifiers with a perfect 4-0 record — highlighted by a 2-0 victory over Guyana at Kingston’s National Stadium last Saturday — the team will face Costa Rica in the tournament’s quarter-finals this November, hosted in Texas. A win against the Central American side will not only secure Jamaica’s place at next year’s World Cup in Brazil but also open the door to the country’s first ever Olympic women’s football appearance.

Charles Edwards, who served as the Reggae Girlz’s head coach from 2007 to 2008, called a third straight World Cup qualification a milestone that would cement the program’s legacy as one of the strongest in the Caribbean region. “I think for the Girlz to make it a three-peat would be a significant accomplishment,” Edwards shared in an interview with the Jamaica Observer. “That has never been done in the English-speaking Caribbean, and I think all of Jamaica would be so excited — especially after the men’s team failed to qualify for the World Cup. When you look at it, a three-peat this side of the world — even some of the Spanish-speaking Central Americans and all of these countries, I don’t know if anyone has ever made it a three-peat so it’s a very great accomplishment for us, and to make the Olympics would be great.”

Andrew Price, who was an assistant coach for Jamaica’s groundbreaking first World Cup appearance in 2019, echoed that excitement, noting the program has grown by leaps and bounds since its first historic qualification run. He pointed to the team’s depth of professional talent as a major advantage going into the November match: many of the squad’s players compete in top European and American club leagues, and even star players Jody Brown and Konya Plummer were absent from the final qualifying round, a testament to the team’s depth. “They are now going to be three World Cups older, more experienced, and I believe that will serve its weight in gold when they go to the Concacaf Women’s Championships,” Price said. “I’m expecting the game against Costa Rica to be a difficult game but it’s a game that the Reggae Girlz can win. They have beaten Costa Rica in the past at the Women’s Championship, and I believe that once they go in there mentally and physically prepared they should be able to overcome them.”

With seven months remaining before the do-or-die match against Costa Rica, both former coaches laid out clear plans to maximize preparation time. Price argued that the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) should take advantage of the June and October international match windows to schedule friendlies against high-caliber opponents from Europe or Asia, to help the team adapt to different playing styles including organized defensive setups and fast counter-attacking transitions.

Edwards agreed that competitive friendlies are important, but added that targeted pre-tournament training camps are also critical. He proposed holding two camps in the United States, ideally near the match venue in Texas, to let the full squad acclimatize to the local environment and build on-field chemistry ahead of the November fixture. “Another big plus for us, it’s going to be over the summer when all the international players should have time to be together to work so I’m looking at camps — maybe two camps somewhere in the US and maybe within the area where they’re going to play the games (Texas) — so that they can acclimatise and get accustomed to all of that environment,” Edwards explained. “So a lot of simulation will have to take place and a lot of fine-tuning. It’s like an engine — you’re going to fine-tune it now, you want it running at maximum, you want to be going top speed. So [it’s] the coaches’ responsibility and the JFF, coupled together, and I think they have been doing a pretty good job so far and should be able to get us in good stead going forward into the game.”

Current head coach Hubert Busby has already confirmed that the technical staff is moving forward with preparation plans, matching the ex-coaches’ focus on the June international window. “We’re turning to what happens within the June window and looking to maximise those two games in terms of preparations,” Busby said last Saturday after the win over Guyana. “I think it is really important for [the players], when they go back into their environment, that they are playing, they’re doing well, and continuing to push the level. We’ll have the chance to take this week and look at our reflection in terms of coaching staff and what we need to do to keep on improving as well so we can improve the group.”

Notably, the Reggae Girlz have beaten Costa Rica in qualification matches on their way to securing spots at both the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, giving the team a historic edge ahead of the November showdown.

PHILADELPHIA – On the opening morning of the historic 130th Penn Relays Carnival, one of the most prestigious high school and collegiate track and field events in North America, Jamaica’s Sydney Pagon High School delivered a stunning performance to claim the top qualifying position for Friday’s final of the High School Girls’ Championships of the Americas Relays. Competing in warm conditions at Franklin Field on Thursday, the quartet of Annateseca Blackwood, Kamaya Graham, Denae Hodges and Alexia Palmer clocked an impressive 9 minutes 1.33 seconds to finish first in the qualifying round. The time not only secured their spot in the decisive final but also put them firmly ahead of one of the event’s most decorated programs, Edwin Allen High. The former championship-winning Edwin Allen squad crossed the line in 9:02.66, a solid time that was still more than a second slower than Sydney Pagon High’s leading mark, enough to earn the team a place in the upcoming final. Among the other notable Jamaican programs advancing through qualifying, Alphansus Davis, which took home second place in last year’s championship, claimed victory in its respective heat with a time of 9:08.30, positioning the team as a dark horse contender for the podium on Friday. Another program with a history of winning the Penn Relays title, Holmwood Technical, also earned a spot in the final after posting a qualifying time of 9:14.80. All eyes will now turn to Friday’s final, where the top Jamaican distance relay programs will face off for the continental championship title at the iconic Penn Relays Carnival. Reporting by Paul A Reid

The 130th edition of the iconic Penn Relays Carnival kicked off Thursday at Philadelphia’s historic Franklin Field, delivering a fairytale final chapter to Marla Kay Lampart’s collegiate athletic career at Clarendon College, as the Jamaican athlete claimed the top spot on the girls’ shot put podium with a personal best throw of 14.41 meters.

Lampart, who secured 11th place in the same competition a year prior, steadily built momentum throughout the rounds. She catapulted into the lead during the third round with a strong 14.10-meter throw, then outdid herself on her final attempt to lock in the gold with her season-best performance.

This victory marks a significant milestone for Jamaican track and field: Lampart is the first Jamaican athlete to win the girls’ shot put title at the Penn Relays since Brittania Johnson of Camperdown High claimed gold back in 2023.

Isabella Furgison from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, took home the silver medal with a throw of 14.08 meters, while Nesta Oji of Livingston, New Jersey, rounded out the top three with a 13.43-meter effort. Saje Cruickank of Alpha Academy finished seventh overall with a 12.61-meter throw.

In the concurrent girls’ discus throw championship event, Jamaica’s Dionjah Shaw of Edwin Allen High claimed second place with a best throw of 48.87 meters. Clarendon College’s Jamelia Young repeated her third-place finish from the 2023 competition, recording a throw of 48.66 meters. Brandane Malcolm of Hydel High landed in fourth position with a 45.03-meter throw, followed by Tanique Dunn of Marymount High in fifth with 55.52 meters. Notably, Abigail Bennett of Merl Grove High, who placed fourth last year, encountered a rough start to the competition, fouling all three of her first-round attempts and failed to advance.

Over in the girls’ javelin throw competition, another Jamaican competitor earned a podium finish: Zoelle Jamel of Immaculate Conception took silver with a 48.84-meter throw, while Ramona Freemantle of Vere Technical secured fifth place with a 44.40-meter throw.

The opening day of the 2024 Penn Relays already delivered standout performances from Jamaican track and field athletes, with multiple athletes finishing in top positions across throwing events, highlighting the country’s deep talent development in youth and collegiate track and field.