Coaches Dyke, Grant pleased after Gibson McCook Relays displays

Edwin Allen High’s girls and Kingston College’s boys have emerged with bragging rights following last Saturday’s 43rd staging of the Gibson McCook Relays, and Michael Dyke and Leford Grant, the respective coaches, are very pleased. Both teams were most outstanding among their high-school counterparts, with Edwin Allen taking three events and Kingston College, six. After dominating at the various development meets so far, defending inter-secondary girls’ champions Edwin Allen had record runs in the Class Two 4x100 metres in 44.75 seconds and Class Three in 44.59, along with an 8:58.00 winning time in the 4x800m. They are in top form heading into next month’s ISSA Boys and Girls’ Championships, and it will take something very special from any team to deny them another title.

“Overall, it was a fantastic performance from the girls and I am satisfied, especially with Central Championships just a few days away,” Dyke said. “I told the girls to be conservative and not to do anything exciting, and you could see this in the Class Two, where they were a bit reserved. We did not even run our top girl, Jessica McLean, in the 4x800m, and the margin of victory was huge. The Gibson McCook Relays is now out of the way and once Central Championships is completed on Thursday, we will be able to concentrate on the big one in four weeks’ time,” stated Dyke, who added that there were no injury concerns for his team coming out of the meet.

Grand Showdown

With the return of Calabar to the meet following last year’s absence, fans expected a grand showdown between the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ champions and a rejuvenated Kingston College. However, in the end it was the North Street-based school which came out in fine style. They took home six events to be the team with the most wins. Calabar had only one win. They took the 4x800m in record time, while Kingston College’s victories came in the Class Four 4x100m and 4x 200m; Class Three 4x100m; Class Two 4x100m and 4x200m; and the 4x400m Open. Lead coach Grant was delighted with his team’s overall performance. “I think the boys did very well and that showed that we will be a force to be reckoned with at Champs. We didn’t send out our top Class One team in the 4x100m and we were able to do well here while we showed strong depth in Class Two and Three,” Grant said.

Ahead of the start, Kingston College were said to be weak in Class One, but the performance by the 4x 400m team that won in 3:10.99 also pleased coach Grant. “It was a big performance from the team as at the last minute, we had to replace our top two, Romel Plummer and Shantamoi Brown, with Cobe Simpson and Terese Rhodes, and they delivered, and this is good sign going forward,” the Kingston College coach said. “It is all about the boys. They are believing in themselves and are very confident that they can win the title at Champs; and they have promised to deliver, as winning the Manning Cup title last year has really motivated them,” Grant concluded.