CHAMPS 2013; THE MOST EXCITING EVER?
“Who spiked the Gatorade at Champs?” That was the question my wife greeted me with as I trudged through the door on Saturday night. I was coming in from the final day of the ISSA Boys and Girls Athletic Championship where so many records were broken my head was still spinning as I approached my front door. That final day, and indeed the entire week, is among the most exciting experiences I have ever had covering track and field.
I have been attending Champs on and off for close to 40 years and there are few that will linger with me like this one did. 1979, for sure, is one of the best, and I enjoyed Champs ’81 even though that one ended in a major brawl between Kingston College and Calabar. There have been a few other really good ones lately too and the last four were fairly exciting but 2013′s edition was ‘off the chain’.
More than 30 records were broken during the championships, the most ever, more than 15 on the final day alone. All evening Saturday, people at the stadium stunned by the rate at which records were being broken, were asking me if the timing system was malfunctioning. But even if that was the case, you don’t need timers for the boy’s javelin, shot putt and high jump, events in which records were shattered. KC’s Zaavan Richards, C’bar’s Frederick Dacres, and Wolmer’s Christoffe Bryan respectively, were responsible for those three records. Clive Pullen in his final year at Kingston College, set a new mark in the triple jump and Edwin Allen’s Tarasue Barnett and Rochelle Frazer destroyed the discus and shot put records. That’s six records of the 30!
On the track things were insane. St. Jago’s Kimone Shaw destroyed the Class 4 Girls 100-metre record. She is 12 years old and blasted the straight run in 11.75s. She also took the 200 metres in impressive fashion blasting away the old record in 24.28 seconds erasing the four-year-old record of 24.62. At the conclusion of Saturday night’s fireworks, Olympian and World Champion Ato Boldon revealed to me at the conclusion of the five days of amazing competition that Shaw was the athlete who impressed him the most.
I have to admit that she did impress me too, but it was hard to say who impressed me the most. Delano Williams of Munro is the best combination sprinter I have seen at this level. He may even be better than Yohan Blake who when he attended St. Jago not that long ago was excellent in the 100m, 200m and 400m. Williams, who is from the Turks and Caicos Islands but whose father is believed to be Jamaican, starts to give you goose pimples the instant he starts to turn over those incredible piston-like legs that propelled him to 10.28s and 20.27s in the 100m, 200m respectively, and on his blistering anchor leg of Munro’s record-setting mile relay run. He didn’t break any individual records but when you consider what he was up against you can empathize. Blake’s 10.21s and Usain Bolt’s 20.25s are hard to achieve at this level but Williams came close; very close. I can’t wait to see what he will do under the guidance of Glen Mills next season.
I remember back in the day at Champs 10.86 would probably win a medal in the Class One 100 metres, but this is 2013 and young Jevaughn Matherson is only in Class 3 and he seems like a special talent. He now owns two of the new records at Champs as in addition to the 100m Class 3 record (10.85 in the semis), he made the 200-metre mark all his own blazing to a 21.87s win. The future looks bright for this youngster.
Shericka Jackson has always been a talented sprinter but poor technique and injury have, I believe, betrayed her over the years. Under the tutelage of John Mair she seems transformed. She ran an impressive 51.60s to win the Class 1 400 metres and used that improved technique to break the 23-second barrier – 22.98s – over the 200 metres. She also anchored Vere’s mile relay team to a record run. Even though her team was a mile in the lead when she got the baton, her anchor leg run was still impressive. The youngster who has promised so much for such a long time, has finally arrived.
For years I have been lamenting about how Jamaica has fallen off as a contender in the 400 metres. It was not that long ago that Jamaica boasted athletes like Davian Clarke , Gregory Haughton, Roxbert Martin, and Michael McDonald, all of whom were consistent sub-45 runners. More recently we have not been as fortunate or as consistent. Jermaine Gonzales, Ricardo Chambers, Riker Hylton and others from this current crop possess the talent but most can’t seem to remain healthy long enough to compete with any level of consistency. And with Bolt, Blake and Asafa Powell making the short sprints so exciting and attractive more kids have been gravitating to the 100 and 200 metres, abandoning the quarter-mile run. With that in mind I was more than pleasantly surprised when Devaughn Baker of Jamaica College, Jaheel Hyde and Martin Manley all broke Ramone McKenzie’s six-year-old Class 2 record of 47.24. The times of 46.64s, 46.93s and 46.95s respectively, suggests, I hope, that we can once more one day soon start to deliver at the highest level in this event.
As you can see there were many impressive performances at Champs 2013, which would have given fans a lot to cheer about, but for me there were two performances from one athlete that will forever stand out. 13.24s and 49.98s are the numbers which will forever be associated with Omar McLeod. This Kingston College hurdler was the true star at these championships. He broke the 110 hurdles mark twice. 13.42s in the semis and 13.24s in the finals makes him the greatest sprint hurdler in Jamaica’s high school history. Consider this; Olympic bronze medalist Hansle Parchment’s national record is 13.12s. Notwithstanding the fact that he was competing over lower hurdles; McLeod, with a few minor adjustments to his technique, could be ready to challenge that national record now.
In the longer hurdle event he became the first schoolboy in Champs history to break 50-seconds. It was an incredible performance. He had the stadium buzzing for hours on Friday night when he scorched the track and even prompted sports cable channel Sportsmaxx to offer their services to the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association in getting their streaming to stay up. Subscribers from all across the world had been expressing their frustration at not being able to see the championships that they paid US$4.99 to see but with McLeod’s record run potentially setting the trend for what was expected to be two explosive last days, Sportsmaxx stepped in to save the day.
McLeod would also play his role in Kingston College’s record-breaking sprint relay run (39.85), a performance that in a way added to the lore of Delano Williams, who came within a half-stride of overcoming a five or six-metre lead that saw Munro just falling short in 39.92s.
When I look back, there were so many outstanding performances. From Michael Ohara, who shattered the Class 2 110 hurdles record, Nathaniel Bann, who obliterated the Class 3 400m record, to the way Calabar held off stern challenges from Jamaica College and Kingston College and the manner in which Holmwood climbed back into contention for the girl’s title and stole home at the death by five points over 2012 champions Edwin Allen, Champs 2013 was memorable on so many levels. The way those performances had the 30,000 assembled on the final night in the national stadium, screaming and shouting cheering their teams on by beating drums, blowing horns and doing the wave, charging the environment with electricity; makes it, for me, the very best ever.
What do you think?
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35 Responses to “CHAMPS 2013; THE MOST EXCITING EVER?”
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I hope its the Gatorade and not any banned substance.
Delano from Monroe College is one to watch!
That 100M finals race on Friday night was phenomenal.
But Mr. Editor I thought the international 110m hurdles was higher than the under 19 boys 110m hurdles – hence the term high-hurdles? Correct me if I am wrong. Also I reckon the international women 100m hurdles are higher than our under 19 girls hurdles – Is’nt that the case sir?
Anyway I do share your sentiments of the extraordinary performances from both the boys and girls right across the board. 30 years ago 14:40 was the mark to achieve in boys 110m hurdles. Class 1 boys could barely broke the 21 sec. mark for 200m, now even class 2 boys are attaining the mark.
The person who I am really watching is Bryan from Wolmers last year as a 15 year old he did 2.20m in the high jump, this year his 1st attempt @ 2.16 then retired – phenomenon.
Well sir it would appear the seniors triumphs are rubbing off on da juniors, they seem well inspired. We only need the government to provide the right size umbrella to develop and nurture the sport of track & field and ensure its sustainability for another 100 years !!!!!
Can wait to see them run against my American high schools at the Penn Relays…USA Baby!!
Am not in Jamaica however I was able to watch champs and wow its vert excited I have requested my vacational leave for next year already this is the type of motivation our kids need and with all the voilent going on this is great sport.
Matherson actually holds both the 100 and 200 records. In the semi-finals he did 10.85 to break the 100 record.
The third Class 2 boy under 47 seconds was not Doodnaughtsingh but Martin Manley of St Jago.
Champs 2013 is history and yes it is the best ever, i cant wait for champs 2014 because if nature takes it course it should be even more breath taking. One of the things i look at is the age of the athletes and their respective classes. I found out that Calabar High School has a set of 12 years old in class 3 that even though they were out classed this year by matherson and Bann from KC their (calabar’s 12 yrs old)times were some of the best ever and dont be too surpise if they brake the class 3 records in the 100, 200, 400 and 800m coming champs 2014. I cant’t wait to see what happens.
The guy i most impressed was Ohara, he has the making of being the next same height, same leg moment was very impressive in the 200 metres. I expect him to improve alot next year. These games was so great.That 12 year my God what is going to happened when she is 18.
Corrected.
Penn Relays here they come!!!can u imagine how the Jamaicans are going to be tested and searched!!!Go Jamaica goooooo. Just wish if I had been there!!!
Go Jamaica Goooooo! I am so proud of “my” kids. Just wish if I’d been there. In 5-6 years when these young people go International, our track and field will be GREEEEAAATTT!!!!
Go Jamaica Go!!! Can mu imagine when these young athletes go international! WOW!!
For me it was good to see the improvement in a Michael O’hara…his knee lift is better,his confidence just seems sky high right now he’s like a man among boys. Good health, focus and humility will take him very far with that talent.
jhevaughn from KC is easily one of the best 13 y-o’s in the world and i can’t imagine any 12 y-o as good as kimone.
Mcleod from KC was top of the world good,Delano was Delano, Shericka went out on a high and congrats to the field athletes,Dacres and Bryan getting the nod here.
The advent of a Usain Bolt turn up athletics or what? Food for thought.
why is the media so bias, leading up to champs 2013 there so not much mentioned of jamaica college(JC) yet they managed to beat out a kingston college(kc) team for second spot.theres not even pictures taken of the jamaica college spectators, where the atmosphere was most electrifying…well done jamaica college
I’m having increased brain activity just reading about it
Good for you.
@Jakan – Lol – Can’t wait!!!!
I loved champs, it was exciting, but I am concerned that the pursuit of winning champs is resulting in us doing the athletes a disservice.
Ohara was overworked in my mind as was Hyde, Mcleod and others. While the athletes must compete we must protect them from over zealous supporters and adminstrators that seek to gain from their talents.
Champs can still be champs, however limiting the athletes to max two track events and one relay seems to be enough work for a five day event.
Thoughts?
They have already limited the number of events that athlete can compete in to three.
As elated as I am about the magnifcent perfomances at Champs, I am left to wonder if those performances will be any match at the Carifta games next week. We may have the superior advantage in the overall medal counts but, at last year’s carifta the Jamaican youths were clobbered in all the sprints, including the relays, events except the u17 girls 100M. We had to take a back seat to little Bahamas and Trinidad.
To the commntators on this forum, the last time I checked Champs is Boys and GIRLS Champs. Get my drift. There were equally spectacular performances by the girls as well. Jackson, 12 year old Shaw to name a few. Actually, from my lens Shaw was the most outstanding sprinter at the meets
The performances will be better but not as high as at Champs, because you are talking about a second peak in the space of three weeks. The thing this time though is that the athletes would have had a longer recovery time so they might just surprise you. Young Shaw, Matherson and company will be better prepared for their rivals from the Bahamas especially.
Mr. Levy , Thanks for your reply!! Shaw did not compete at the carifta trials. Her 11.75 at champs was much superior to the 11.92, albiet -1 wind, winning time for the u17 100m trials. Which leads me to my next thought. The Carifta trials should be scrapped. Istead, the selection committee for Carifta should use the Champs results to select the carifta team?????
This was my first time at champs and I got the feel as thought I was at the Olympics. The quality of the performances by both participants and the organizers of the event was top quality. As a Jamaican living in the US I was very proud. I really appreciated the fire works as well as seeing the both the Prime Minister and Senator Grange because it must be noted that it under the leadership of those two women that Jamaica’s reached its athletic zenith with more to come.
this article said it all. Champ 2013 was just amazing for the sport of track and field
I wouldnt worry about the sprint events be taking rule by other countries at Carifta thsi year. I think we have them rap up. Murpphy will win the u20, u17 we will take home. and the girls will be closer. but we should take home all the relays. The tallent this year is far superior to all the other countries this year. yes we had two years when the sprint factory was in transition. Now it is a full operating machione again. jamaica will not be denied their sprint glories this Carifta 2013.
Jamaica has the superior talent this year 2013. I have been taking notes of T&T/barbados and Bahamas trials, and their times are way below par with jamaica students. Yes the Bahamas going full out with ttheir overseas College athletes, Shauna Miller is all they have. All the others are Neutralize by the high school athletes jamaica using.
Great champs. In 1979 there was another great champs which I believe was won by Dinthill Technical. It is clear that many of the analysts got it wrong with their predictions.
Murphy will be up against Delano Williams!!! Williams is still u20
@DonManJ…Murphy will not be up against Delano as Delano is born in 1993 making him 20 this year..Murphy was born in 1994 making him 19..Once your are 20 in the year of the competition you cannot compete….
“Jah Jah” Your comment “does Jamican youth have the superior talent in 2013″ Based on the results from yesterday’s Carifta we were, once again shut out of the marque 100m sprint titles except the girls u17. It will be similar results in the 200m Where Jamaica will be hardpressed to win gold in any of the 4 events. Jazeel struggled in the 100m and barely hung on for the silver!!!
Its all good and well when our “nursery” is doing fantastic – in sprints and some field events. However we’re still very poor in the middle distant races.
And that should be a concern, because in East Africa u have 17 year old boys doing 1min 43secs and under in the 800m, its just the same for 1500m and not to mention the 3000m steeple chase and longer distances.
Our boys are doing 1:50+ in the 800m for years now also in the 1500m 4 mins. seems to be the bench mark. In Africa 18 year old boys are doing 3mins. 30+/40+ secs. in the 1500m.
Thanks for Kemoy Campbell recently did a 13min. 32.82 secs in a 5000m in California, however he needs to get rid of a wopping 20 secs or so to have any chance of a medal – the good news is he’s 22 yrs old so he still have a little time to go.
But how does Kemoy get rid of a wopping 20 secs+ off his 5000m PB?
My opinion is: needs to revolutionize his whole organisation; more efficient and effective technical support; improve diet and nutrition; time management; need a total head to toe physical doctor’s check-up; place of training; when does he goes to bed and for how long; management staff shake-up; etc.
Before Mo. Farah got so great he was doing ordinary times and finishing and the lower end of the track. So he decided to take a trip to Kenya and East Africa where the core of his opponents are. One of his startling discoveries was that apart from the benefits of high altitude training – these guys went to bed from sun-set, even if they didn’t fall asleep immediately but kept their body horizontal for longer than every body else.
He was shocked because his normal routine was after training to hook up with his lads and go for walk or something social – so on average he went to bed round about mid-night and woke up late. In comparison while he was in his bed between 5:00 am and 6:00 am his East African competitors were already up and putting in a serious shift until about 8ish 9ish, afterwards they would chill-out and get ready for the afternoon shift.
These events SHOOK him up immensely, no wonder Mo. Farah is such an aggressive and prosperous middle distant athlete today.
You see the benefits of keeping your body horizontal to achieve complete rest:
Roofs send their loads down through beams, walls, floors, columns, etc. straight down to the underlying soil of the building’s foundations, right!
When a person sits down, he’s partially at rest because the load of his upper structure is transferred down through his hips and waist down through the chair/seat down into the floor. Depending on the angle of his upper legs (thigh/quads,hamstrings), these send back their load to the hips/waist through the chair into the floor. From his knees downwards to his feet – these transfer this portion of weight down to the floor directly without sending it back up through the waist. So the person is not at complete rest.
When one lays down fully stretched out (horizontal) his body’s load is transferred at every connection point with the bed through to the bed legs and finally through to the floor. Meaning at all these individual connection points e.g. the head, upper back, shoulder, bottom, etc. these points transfer much less loads than if say when he was on the chair where the upper body collects the loads of the head, shoulder, upper back and transport it to his hips, waist, bottom and dis-embark it on the seat of the chair. For so much load to be transferring through your upper body you must be awake for such an event to be occurred. Unlike when you lie down flat on your back, at all these points where your body touches the bed – you’re having a load transfer which individually is much less. And because of these less load transactions your body has become partially idle and allowed to drop asleep. So the quicker you lie down properly the quicker you fall asleep and restore the body’s energy.
I am wondering are you all familar with the Junior Olympics which is held in the United States annually during the summer. This meet actually involves track clubs and in order to enter each athlete has to make a qualifying time prior to the meets. Arrangements should be made where these athletes from Jamaica can complete at this level. The meet is primarly for youths up to eighteen and youths as young as eight years do compete at his meet.