The 2019 edition of the Digicel Central Athletics Championships will be remembered for some scintillating performances and bumper crowds on both days.

The event, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Foster College, saw records tumble, beginning with the first track event for boys on day one and continuing all the way through day two as the fans were treated to some delightful action both on the track and in the field.

Edwin Allen’s Tia Clayton ran a jaw-dropping 11.37s in the Class Three Girls 100m final that set tongues wagging. It was the fastest time ever recorded by a 14-year-old in the world.

Top middle-distance performances were seen on the boys’ side as two double winners broke the record in their respective races.

Tavaughn Martin of Bellefield High ran a new record of 4:17.90 in the Class Three Boys 1500m in the afternoon of day one, before he returned in the morning of day two to shatter the 800m record, scorching the track to stop the clock at 1:57.48.

Aj Sweeney of Edwin Allen High showed that he came to the championships in good shape when he broke the 2,000m steeplechase record on day one with a time of 6:04.71, and underlined his pedigree on day two by running against the clock for the last 400m of the 5000m Open to set a new record of 15:45.50.

Seventeen-year-old Marie Forbes of Vere Technical High, who is in her first year in Class One, broke the discus record with a best of 50.41m as she became the first athlete to throw over the 50m mark in the discipline this season. She also won the shot put on day two with a best of 13.10m.

These were just some of the impressive performances from schools in the central area of the country, and they certainly resonated with Elon Parkinson, the head of group public relations at Digicel.

“These past two days of thrilling athletic performances, they are absolutely what we live for and why we support youth athletics development via the Digicel Grand Prix,” he said.

Parkinson was not only pleased with the improvement in the performances of the athletes, but also with the growth in the size of the audience.

“We really saw some record-breaking performances, but also we saw perhaps the largest turnout ever at the Central Champs, and what that says is that it’s growing in popularity as much as it’s growing in the level of athletic skill that turns out year after year,”said the Digicel executive.

“We have seen more records broken… we have seen more schools turning up and really showing that they are highly competitive,” he continued.

Parkinson praised the competitive nature of the championships and lauded the schools that were able to significantly up their game.

“No race was ever going to be a given for any particular side, and every school had to fight hard for it. We had some new entrants to the top three this year, which of course speaks to the higher levels of competitiveness that the teams are bringing.

“So overall we are very pleased about the result [and] we are looking forward to the upcoming Grand Prix Meets, as we continue this investment in the development of youth athletics in Jamaica,” he noted.

In looking forward to the upcoming meets in the series, Parkinson is anticipating the Corporate Area Development Meet (CADM) to provide something special for track and field enthusiasts at the end of the week.

“It’s gonna be a bumper crowd, because you are talking about schools from the large metropolis of Kingston & St Andrew… there is also going to be a lot of energy and excitement because when it comes on to the National Stadium people show up.

“They show up not only for the purposes of supporting their schools, but of course to witness sporting greatness at the high school level, and so we invite everybody to come on out to the big championships coming up.

“Enjoy yourselves, support your teams, and of course make sure that you share the excitement with your friends on your social media pages and with us at Digicel on Instagram or Facebook,” he urged.

Track and field fans will have a lot to feast on in the coming days as we begin the week with the Digicel Eastern Championships tomorrow and Tuesday, before closing with the Digicel CADM on Friday and Saturday.