THOUGH HAPPY for the win, Wolmer's Josef Robertson, who broke the national junior 400m hurdles record on yesterday's third day of the VMBS/ISSA Boys and Girls Championships at the National Stadium, was not pleased with the time.
"I am feeling good because I just won the 400m hurdles. I am glad for the win but not pleased with the time," said Roberson, who has suffered in previous seasons with quad and hamstring injuries.
Robertson erased the old mark 50.46 seconds previously held jointly by Kingston College's Kenneth Grey (1981) and Camperdown's Gregory Little (2001), when he crossed the finish line in an impressive 50.24 seconds.
He said he did not execute the race plan well.
"It (race) didn't go (according) to plan because I was supposed to go out hard without scuffling for the first three hurdles, and I scuffled for the second hurdle, so that kind of threw off my rhythm," he explained.
Robertson, a star athlete who competed for Calabar at Champs for the past five years, was booed by a small section of the grandstand when he celebrated with the Calabar flag. He switched from Calabar to Wolmer's this school year and said he intended to celebrate with flags from both schools to show he still had strong feelings for Calabar.
"There were some vibes between some boys from Calabar and myself about a month ago. I went to Calabar for six years, I just wanted to show the fans that I still love Calabar. I was supposed to get the Wolmer's and Calabar flags, but the Wolmer's flag wasn't there," he explained.
PREDICTIONS
Robertson, who returns today for the 400m, predicts a competitive race with Kingston College's Leford Green, who finished second in the hurdles.
Meanwhile, St. Jago's star sprinter Yohan Blake, Kingston College's Donahue Williams and Holmwood's Tanesha Blair were also record breakers.
Blake, who decimated the Class Two 100m 10.45-second mark set by Camperdown's Remaldo Rose in 2004 to 10.34, said: "I am happy with this record.
"My coach told me to go after the record, run your personal best and that's what I did."
He also said he was making up for his mistake at the CARIFTA Games Trials where he finished third in the Under-20 event, which was won by Rose.
Holmwood's Tanesha Blair accounted for the third record of the meet, throwing 46.62m to win the girls' javelin open. The mark surpassed her former teammate Shaneka Parkes' 45.08m set in 2004.
In the boys' Class Two 1500m, Williams ran a very good race to win in 4:02.50, which erased St. Jago's Michael Williams' 18-year-old record of 4:04.13. Michael Williams, who is in the island, will make the presentation to him today.
"Only my best was good enough and I went out there and did what my coach told me to do," Donahue Williams said. "The plan was just to go in and do my best. I didn't know that I was going that fast. I am very happy, very happy."
Kemoy Campbell of Bellefield was second in 4:02.85 and Manchester's Daren Lindsay (4:03.77).
Anthony Foster
