( L - R ) ROSE and CALVERT
LES ABYMES, Guadeloupe (CMC):
PERENNIAL CHAMPIONS Jamaica strode to a remarkable 12 gold medals in the 20 finals contested on the opening day of the 35th CARIFTA junior track and field championship on Saturday.
Jamaica, medal table-toppers for the past 21 consecutive years, swept all the 100-metre titles and three of the four 400-metre gold medals on offer in a thrilling first evening of the region's premier junior athletics meet at the Rene Serge Nabajoth Stadium.
Remaldo Rose justified his favourite label for the Under-20 boys' 100 metres when he dismissed a threat from Trinidad and Tobago's Kerston Bledman to win in 10.48 seconds, chased by Bledman (10.57) and Barbadian Ramon Gittens (10.60).
Schillonie Calvert won the senior girls' equivalent in 11.51 seconds, topping Bahamian Sheniqua Ferguson (11.63) and T&T's Semoy Hackett (11.68).
Danielle Jeffery (11.67) and Carie Russell (11.70) made it a Jamaica one-two in the Under-17 girls' 100 in which defending champion Aniko Jno Baptiste, of Antigua and Barbuda, was pushed back into fourth spot.
And Dexter Lee completed the Jamaica sweep of the short sprint with a 10.72-second victory over T&T's Joel Dillon in the Under-17 boys' 100.
T&T's Renny Quow denied the Jamaicans a sweep of the one-lap event as he repeated as Under-20 boys' champion with a solid victory in 46.55 seconds, chased by Jamaican Allodin Fotergill (47.54).
In the track performance of the night, Sonita Sutherland captured her third consecutive Under-20 girls 400 title as she won in a sizzling championship record 51.30 seconds.
In the preliminaries, her teammate Kalise Spencer ran 51.82 seconds to break the 20-year-old CARIFTA record of 52.18 held by Jamaican Sandie Richards.
But Sutherland, the world's fastest junior in the event this year and fourth fastest in the world overall, claimed the record in the final.
Spencer (51.99) got second and French Guyana's Marie Angelique Lacordelle (54.22) was third.
Latoya McDermott (54.03) and Akino Ming (48.56) captured the Under-17 girls' and boys' 400 titles respectively.
There was still more dominance for Jamaica in the 1500s, three of those four finals going to the champions, including a championship record 4.32:70 for defending champions Natoya Goule in the Under-17 girls event.
Trinidad and Tobago's Gavin Nero stepped one place up from his silver last year to win the Under-17 boys' 1500 in a new record 4:00.78, firmly dismissing the Jamaican pair of Kemoy Campbell (4:02.40) and Conroy Crossman (4:08.94).
Jodian Richards, significantly slower than her junior teammate, repeated as Under-20 girls' champion for the 1500 in 4:37.30 and Bengallo Morrison - also slower than Nero's junior run - made it three 1500-metre wins for Jamaica with a 4.01:37 victory in the Under-20 boys' 1500.
In the field, medals were more evenly distributed, among them Anguilla's Shara Proctor taking the Under-20 girls' long jump title at 6.07 metres ahead of Bermuda's World Youth champion Arantxa King (6.07m) stepping up to the seniors and Tameka Williams (5.98) of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Martinique's Daniell Sacama Isidore (5.69m) won the Under-17 girls long jump crown ahead of the British Virgin Islands' Chantel Malone (5.62m) who had taken bronze in the 400 metres.
The Under-20 boys' long jump crown went to Guadeloupe's Stephane Jumet (7.51m), Bahamians Jamal Wilson (2.05m) and Kyle Grant (2.00m) were first and second in the Under-20 boys' high jump and Damion Johnson (15.29m) won the Under-17 boys' shot over his teammate Omar Bryan (14.95m).
Earlier, in the morning session, Hileen James won the Under-17 girls' shot at 11.93 metres, Jamaican Sharif Small took the Under-20 boys' discus at 51.19 metres, and Bahamian Ray Higgs landed the Under-17 boys' high jump at 2.06 metres.
