Jamaica College track team Head Coach Neil Harrison and Marlon Gayle, head boys’ coach at St Jago High, are pleased with the performances of their teams at Saturday’s 45th staging of the Gibson/McCook Relays.

Jamaica College highlighted the boys’ section with a sublime 7:24.30 seconds run to break the record in the 4x800m Open, one of three relay wins, while St Jago surprised many with three wins as well, including the Class 1 4x100m and the 4x400m Open.

Despite technical issues that prevented eager patrons from getting tickets to be part of the first meet with fans since March 2020 and a cold drizzle midway the four-hour programme inside the National Stadium in St Andrew, the Gibson/McCook Relays served up a taste of what is to come at the various regional high school championships and the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships set for April.

Harrison told the Jamaica Observer he was most pleased with the performance of the 4x800m team of Omarion Davis, Handal Roban, Kimario Bygrave, and Javaughn Blake that broke the old mark of 7:29.04 seconds set in 2020 by Calabar.

Describing the quartet as “very special”, Harrison said, “We have been working with them since last year but there was no Gibson Relays or Penn Relays and we don’t have that race at Champs.”

He was philosophical, saying, “Nothing happens before its time and we are just happy they are healthy.”

Overall, he said, they were “comfortable” with what they saw but added “there will be tweaks here and there. We did certain things and we will go back and look”.

The dropped baton in the Class 2 4x100m, he said, “Was part and parcel of the sport” but he was impressed with the 4x400m team as, due to a misunderstanding the third leg runner was not on the track when the baton came. “But we still ran 3:12 even with that mishap, and it just goes to show the depth and courage of this team.”

Kingston College were second, well behind in 7:36.21 seconds, with St Jago High third in 7:45.46 seconds.

Edwin Allen High won the girls’ Open race in 8:49.41 seconds, slower than the 8:48.57 seconds they ran to win at Western Relays two weeks before; St Jago were second in 9:07.34 seconds with Holmwood Technical third in 9:14.74 seconds.

Gayle, the St Jago coach, admitted that his boys might have performed “above expectations” on Saturday, but added “there are a lot of moving parts and we are trying to ensure that these student/athletes will deliver when the time comes. There are no perfect championships but we are trying to guide them and to prepare them for longevity and to continue to do well at the next level.”

While he said he was not surprised by any of the wins, he was most pleased by the performance of the 4x400m team of Raheem Pinnock, Tafar-Hi Hinds, Gregory Prince and Jevaughn Pinnock that ran 3:10.48 seconds.

“Simply, we have performed below par in some instances,” he said, but pointed out that they have had the chance to do sufficient analysis and they had learned their lessons.

“We have depth here, and every athlete, from jumpers to sprinters, must be able to run a leg of the 4x400m team. We want them to be able to compete at a high level across different disciplines,” he told the Observer.

Kingston College were second in 3:11.13 seconds with Jamaica College third in 3:12.49 seconds.

The Hydel High girls team of Daena Dyer, Oneika McAnuff, Alliah Baker and Brianna Lyston topped the women’s 4x400m running 3:33.76 seconds, Edwin Allen were second in 3:41.66 seconds and Holmwood Technical third in 3:42.32 seconds.

Sprintec won both men’s and women’s clubs/institution races, the men holding off Racers Track Club to win in 3:05.16 seconds, fourth-fastest in the world so far. Racers ran 3:06.26 seconds and GC Foster were third in 3:07.10 seconds.

The women’s team ran 3:36.83 seconds to beat GC Foster, 3:47.07 seconds.