In a building that might soon be known as ‘The Palace’, the MVP Track Club took center stage at the 2011 Milo Western Relays. In the first meet inside the reconfigured Montego Bay Sports Complex at Catherine Hall, MVP rolled out its big guns with Asafa Powell, Shelly-Ann Frazer, Melaine Walker, Nesta Carter and Kaliese Spencer all showing good early season fitness.
Carter, Michael Frater, Ainsley Waugh and Powell held a lively UTECH quartet at bay in the men’s 4x100 relay, 38.56 to 39.17 seconds. Fresh from a clocking of 6.52 secs indoors over 60m, Carter took charge on the first leg and Frater sped away on the second after a good baton pass. Eventually UTECH’s second leg Jacques Harvey recovered some ground and Kimari Roach, the 2010 Penn Relays 100 winner, stormed the turn.
The revival was to no avail; Roach and 2006 World Junior Relay gold medalist Winston Barnes fumbled the final exchange and Powell was off and away. The time of 38.56, a new meet record, would have gotten MVP into the 2008 Beijing Olympic final and the 2009 Berlin World Championship final.
Frazer anchored MVP to victory in the women’s event in 43.68 secs.
The most exciting 4x100 race of the day was the boys’ Class 1 event, where STETHS edged Munro College, 40.12 to 40.14. Andrew Fisher zipped the 2nd leg for STETHS and after a slow last exchange, Delano Williams closed fast for Munro but just ran out of room.
The times are the fastest ever by STETHS and Munro. They now stand at 4th and 5th on the all-time Jamaican high school 4x100 performance list. The winning time was a Western Relays record.
Munro upended STETHS in the 4x200 and set a new record, 1 min 25.67 secs. GC Foster College did a 4x200 double in the Open category, with record runs of 1:23.72 and 1:35.38 in the men’s and women’s events, respectively.
Diana Johnson sealed Holmwood victories in the Class 3 4x100 and the 4x200 Open with rapid anchor legs and showed she is ready to defend her Girls Champs titles over 100 and 200. The shorter race was run in record time – 46.52 secs. With Christiania Williams on anchor-leg duty, Edwin Allen won in Class 2, also in record time – 45.32.
Mixed Fortunes
Kingston College (KC) had mixed fortunes. The purple-and-whites won in Class 2 with 42.29, not far from the record of 42.20. In Class 3, while challenging Wolmers, KC dropped the baton at the final exchange. The Wolmerians won in record time of 44.70 seconds.
KC came close to beating Holmwood in the 4x800 but Daniel Richards denied Yannick Edwards of KC the win by a slim margin. Edwin Allen won the girls equivalent convincingly in 8:58.73 with a fast second leg by Desreen Montague clocked at 2:10.5.
The men’s 4x800 went to GC Foster in 7:39.56 but the women’s race looked like an MVP fitness test. With runs of 2:05.3 and 2:15.9, respectively, Spencer and Walker helped MVP to win in 9:01.72.
Two cracking 4x400 races brought the meet to a close. In the boys race, STETHS denied KC and Wolmers, in 3:15.84 seconds and Swept Track Club broke the men’s record in 3:08.25. The high school girls race went to Edwin Allen in 3:40.62 seconds with Ristananna Tracey closing in 52.7.
Fans enjoyed palatial accommodation in the Catherine Hall complex including sparkling bathrooms and a spacious parking lot. It was the first time the Western Relays had been staged in Montego Bay in three years.
Hubert Lawrence has been covering local and international athletics since 1987.