Yohan Blake taking things easy in the 100m heats. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

THE 2007 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Athletics Championships are over and, after looking back at the performances, it was not all that easy to select the top performer.

Kingston College's Keiron Stewart ran 13.53 to break the 110m hurdles national record to add to his 400m hurdles win, Holmwood's Taneisha Blair threw 47.85m for the national junior javelin record, Danielle Jaffery of Immaculate (11.64 and 23.65) and Antonique Campbell of Herbert Morrison (11.89 and 24.14) won sprint double in Classes Two and Three while Manchester High's Shawna-Gaye Tracey was impressive in the Class Two 400m (53.33) and 400m hurdles Open (57.90), so too was Ramone McKenzie of Calabar in the 400m (47.24) and 200m (20.89) for Class Two boys.

However, it was St. Jago's Yohan Blake whose performances saw him get the nod as The Gleaner's Top Performer of the Week.

As a first-year Class One competitor, Blake was spectacular. Not only did he defeat 2004 World Junior bronze medallist Remaldo Rose of Camperdown in the 100m, but also he broke former St. George's College athlete Tesfa Latty's four-year-old mark of 10.24 seconds by running 10.21.

Unchallenged athlete

He was unchallenged in the 200m, crossing the line in an impressive 20.62 seconds.

As if he wasn't satisfied, Blake, who won bronze at last year's World Junior Championships, helped St. Jago establish new marks in the relays.

In the 4x100m, Blake, on anchor, led St. Jago to the first sub-40 seconds by a schoolboy team in the history of Jamaica's track and field (39.80) to erase the previous mark of 40.37.

In the night's closing event, the 4x400m relay, Blake was at his best. He received the baton about three metres behind Calabar's Garfield German and, before they hit the backstretch, he was four metres ahead.

By the time he entered the home stretch, German had already decided to run for second as Blake saw St. Jago to a Champs' record 3:09.51, breaking the 3:09.86 Calabar set in 1990.

- Anthony Foster