Flair | 10 athletes to watch at Girls’ Champs

The annual five-day track and field carnival that is the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) is once again on the horizon, and here is our list of the top 10 female athletes to look out for.

SHANOYA DOUGLAS

New colours, same Shanoya Douglas. Making the switch from Muschett High School in Trelawny to Holland High School in the same parish, Jamaica’s rising talent, Shanoya Douglas, has once again proven her quality on the track. Despite her limited performances in the 100m this season, she has showcased that she is still the one to watch and the one to beat.

ALEXXE HENRY

The only junior athlete to beat Douglas this year, Trinidadian sprinter Alexxe Henry has been in impressive form this season. With the Central Athletics Championships (Central Champs) title already to her name, she will be one of the top contenders in the girls’ Class One 100m.

TASHANA GODFREY

One of Jamaica’s rising sprint hurdlers, Tashana Godfrey has been a force to be reckoned with since she stepped into the high school circuit. She claimed the 2024 Class Four title in the 70m hurdles, and despite stepping up a class, Godfrey proved that she was without peer as she claimed the Class Three 80m hurdles title last year.

JOVI ROSE

The last name Rose has been dominating Jamaica’s middle-distance for the last few years, and Holmwood’s Jovi Rose is the favourite to extend that dominance come Champs. Despite finishing second in the Class Two 800m and 1500m finals last year, Rose is looking like a front-runner in Class One this time around and has already taken down the Central Champs 800m record on her march to Champs.

NATRECE EAST

The pride of Marescaux Road, Wolmer’s Trust High School for Girls’ Natrece East is once again on a mission for a double sprint title as the speedster looks to be in medal contention form. She has already claimed the 2026 Corporate Area Athletics Championship (Corporate Champs) Class Two sprint double title and will be one to watch at Champs.

MARLA-KAY LAMPART

Clarendon College’s Marla-Kay Lampart is the queen of the ring as the reigning Class One shot put champion, Carifta Games champion, and national under-20 record holder. She will once again return to the circle, where she is expected to fend off all challengers to her crown.

ZAVIEN BERNARD

At just 16 years old, Hydel High School’s Zavien Bernard is no stranger to success as she is one of Jamaica’s most talented and versatile field athletes of her generation. The Class Three high jump record holder, Bernard claimed the Class Two title last year, along with a silver medal in long jump and a seventh-place finish in the triple jump open.

JAEDA ROBINSON

The crowning gem in an emerging Immaculate Conception High School programme, Jaeda Robinson is Jamaica’s queen of the sand pit as the reigning Class Two long jump champion. She has been in terrific form this year, claiming both the Class One long jump and the Triple Jump Open Corporate Champs titles last month.

ALIKAY REYNOLDS

The defending Class Two 800m and 1500m champion, Alikay Reynolds is the star power behind Alphansus Davis High School’s track and field programme, and she will be looking to pull off the gruelling double title once again when she sets the National Stadium track alight with her blistering pace.

KEVONGAYE FOWLER

If there is one athlete who can rain on Reynolds’ parade, it would certainly be Edwin Allen’s Kevongaye Fowler. Fowler finished third in the Class Two 800m last year and fourth in the 1500m, just outside the medals. But Fowler appears ready to banish the ghosts of last year and has already started on her quest, beating out Reynolds to the 800m Central Champs title last month.

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com