By Paul A. Reid, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE FASTEST ever High School Girls 400m at St. Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS), a 55.4 seconds effort by Edwin Allen High's IAAF World Junior Championships (WJC) bronze medallist Sherine Pinnock, highlighted last Saturday's 21st staging of the Alpart/STETHS Invitational.
Pinnock, one of two double winners on the day, upset her WJC teammate Anniesha McLaughlin over the one-lap event in the fastest time ever run at the meet, hours after taking her pet event - the 400m Hurdles open - in a decent 63.8 seconds.
Manning School's Class 3 runner ,Darrion Bent was the other double winner as he took the 400/800m events at the meet that started over an hour late. As a result of the late start, the relay events that were supposed to close the meet had to be cancelled.
The Boys Class 1 200m that closed the meet was run in near darkness.
OUTSTANDING RESULTS
Nearly 50 schools, more than the 40 that turned up last year, took part in the event that saw a number of outstanding results especially in the field events.
The 400m duel between Pinnock and McLaughlin was, however, the highlight as the shorter Pinnock went out hard over the first 250m but the large turn out expected the more experience Holmwood runner to take over in the home stretch. Pinnock had other plans, however, and found another gear to hold off McLaughlin and win the event.
Bent, who has had a good start to the season, was the fastest over the Boys' Class 3 400m, finishing in 53.0 seconds. He returned to take the two-lap event in 2:08.2 seconds.
Holmwood Technical's Davian Parker and Kerone Robinson also showed good early season form, as they continue to prepare for next month's VMBS Boys Champs as they took the Class 1 800m and 400m races respectively.
Parker's 1:57.8 seconds was the fastest at STETHS in at last 10 years, while Robinson's 48.9 in the 400m was the best among the high school boys and second only to Mellard Brown of the High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) on the day.
St, Hugh's giant Class 2 discuss thrower, Phelicia Reynolds, had a personal best 42.19m, beating the next best effort by over five metres.
PERSONAL BEST
Vere Technical's Class 3 high jumper Kerrima Blake had a personal best 1.61m to win her event and was the best among all high schools girls on the day as the Class 2 winner. Her teammate Shantell Thompson could only muster a 1.60m effort, while the Class 1 winner, Merrisa Daley of Lewisville, cleared only 1.53m.
There were also good showings by Holmwood Technical's WJC representative Schillonie Calvert, who had the fastest 200m time of the day - 23.9 seconds; while her teammate, Nyoka Cole, won the Class 1 event in 24.3 seconds.
Mannings School's Favian Blagrove and Holmwood Technical's Mickel Downer, both CARIFTA Games representatives last year, had identical 21.9 second-clockings for the Class 1 200m to win their respective heats.
Steve Hammond of St. Jago turned the tables on Mannings' CAC Games double gold medallists Hickel Woolery in the Boys Class 1 discus with a superb 53.07m effort.
Woolery, who had won at the Big Shot Invitational the previous week, improved his personal best with a throw of 51.80m to set up what should be an enthralling contest at Champs.
