The clash between Ramarco Thompson and Mario Burke is getting tantalizingly closer, but it didn’t happen yesterday at the second annual Joseph Payne Memorial Classic at the National Stadium.
Thompson of Freedom Striders looks very smooth and easy and was without equal in winning the Under-15 Boys’ 400 metres in a new record of 52.45 seconds. Giovanni Phillips of Princess Margaret was second overall in 55.49 seconds.
Burke of Kolij didn’t run the quarter-mile but he was in impressive form, winning the 100 metres in 11.27 seconds from Blitz’s Tamal Atwell (11.38).
Thompson came back and slammed the field in the 200 metres by more than 30 metres, crossing the line in 23.08 seconds. Burke lined up in the third heat and came out of the turn blazing, seeming to have it under control.
Atwell began to run back and Burke clutched at his right hamstring, slowing down before the finish in 23.13 seconds. Atwell was third overall in 23.45, adding fuel to a simmering fire that will blaze at inter-school sports.
CARIFTA Games 800-metre gold medallist Anthonio Mascoll opened the season with 48.81 seconds in the men’s 400 metres, erasing the old record of 49.23 set by his Pacers Track Club teammate Christopher Davis last year.
Pacers were out for the first time this season, and teammate Nicholas Deshong, another member of the Pacers/Ellerslie 4×400-metre quartet, won his heat in 48.91.
Davis, who runs the second leg, was third overall in 49.92.
Pacers’ Joshua Walcott made a return from injury last year to win the Under-17 Boys’ race in 51.12 seconds, down from the 56.41 set by Thompson.
Althea Maximilien of Freedom Striders won the women’s race in 57.99 to erase Mara Weekes’ 58.29.
Tia-Adana Belle of Elite Distance won the Under-17 Girls’ event in 59.53 seconds and Freedom Striders’ Saydia Weekes was first among the Under-15 girlsin 62.27 seconds.
The hurdles had reduced fields, but they were fairly competitive. Jalisa Burrowes (15.78) beat her BC Trac teammate Maya Millington (18.97) in the Under-17 Girls’ race.
Coming back from the quadriceps injury which prematurely ended her season last year, Kenrisha Brathwaite of Rising Stars won the women’s 100-metre hurdles in 14.44 seconds.
Dario Scantlebury of Rising Stars made his season debut with a win in the newly added Under-17 Boys’ 110-metre hurdles in a time of 15.09 seconds.
The Elite Distance pair of Shervid Sandiford (15.37) and Jewuan Cumberbatch (16.43) took the next two spots.
Tyrell Forde won the men’s race in 14.37 seconds, pulling away from his Rising Stars teammate Tramaine Maloney (14.45) who was in his first race after moving up to the Under-20 division.
Hasani Lowe of BC Trac equalled Ajani Ince’s record of 4.12 metres in the Under-11 Boys’ long jump, joining his BC Trac teammates Romario Antoine (40.29) and Tristan Whitehall (40.95) with records in the Under-17 Boys’ and Under-20 Boys’ discus, respectively.
Kemar Holder-Edghill of BC Trac also set a new mark of 14.14 metres in the men’s shot put, shattering the 11.98 metres set by Sheldon Roach last year.
Antoine and Whitehall did the double, winning with 12.90 metres and 13.96 metres, respectively. Parkinson’s Shavonte Bradshaw also set a new record of 35.43 metres in the javelin.
Princess Margaret’s physical education teacher Janita Austin turned cheerleader, supporting Soraya Durant and Nikita Alleyne, who both were a bit tentative at the start of the Under-13 Girls’ high jump. As they began to clear the bar, their confidence improved and Durant won with 1.28 metres, Alleyne second at 1.25 metres.