Goulbourne, JC 4x800m team inducted in Penn Relays Wall of Fame

LAST Saturday’s final day of competition at the 130th staging of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia was a special day for former national long jumper Elva Goulbourne.

Goulbourne, a former Dinthill Technical and Auburn University athlete, became the latest Jamaican to be inducted into the Wall of Fame for her long jump heroics. On the same day, Jamaica College’s 1999 4x800 metres Penn Relays’ winning team was also inducted. That team clocked a fast 7:37.71 to win the Championship of America title. At that time it was the second-fastest time ever recorded for a high school 4x800m at the Penn Relays. The JC quartet included Jeffrey Wallace,Dwayne Medley, Kenrick Ferril and Mashel Jackson.

An outstanding long jumper for Dinthill Technical and Auburn University, the 46 year-old Goulbourne is still the record holder at Penn Relays in the high school category after her 6.40m effort in 1999. Four years later, while representing Auburn, she also put her name in the record books at the collegiate level with a distance of 6.65m, where she won back-to-back titles. She became the first female athlete from Auburn to win an individual title at the Penn Relays.

One of the few athletes to win Penn Relays titles at both the high school and collegiate levels, Goulbourne, who is also the national record holder in the event both indoors and outdoors with marks of 6.86m and 7.16m, spoke with The Gleaner minutes after receiving her award.

“It is a great, great pleasure getting this award, as I wasn’t expecting this. After over 26 years, I wasn’t thinking about it until I got a call, and it is just an awesome feeling,” she said.

“Being a little skinny girl from the country (rural areas), competing for a non-traditional track and field high school, and coming up against some bigger athletes at Penns in 1999, I was very determined to do my best and I came out with the win,” she said.

Goulbourne, who won gold in the event at the Commonwealth Games in 2002, had some advice for upcoming athletes.

“The main thing is to stay focused, and once you are determined to do well, you will achieve your goal, and remember to also put God first,” concluded the 2000 Olympic Games representative in Sydney, Australia.