The 116th staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships ended with an unmistakable theme, blue dominance.
Edwin Allen High reclaimed the girls’ title with 338.5 points, dethroning defending champions Hydel High (259.5), while Jamaica College (JC) surged to 345 points to wrest the boys’ crown from Kingston College (KC), who finished second on 282.
Holmwood Technical (167), Immaculate Conception (110), and St Jago (91) completed the top five among the girls, while Calabar (169.33), St Jago (121.83), and Wolmer’s (105) followed on the boys’ side.
Both champions led from the opening day and never relinquished control, a rare, emphatic statement of sustained excellence across five days of competition disrupted by rain but never short on brilliance.
Closing statement: Relays, resilience, and celebration
Jamaica College put the finishing touch on their 23rd title with victory in the boys’ 4x400m relay, clocking 3:08.18 minutes to hold off a determined Kingston College (3:08.68). William Knibb secured third, while Calabar’s challenge ended in disqualification after a false start.
Hydel High closed their campaign with a win in the girls’ 4x400m relay (3:33.72), but Edwin Allen’s earlier accumulation of points ensured the title was already beyond reach.
Even a lightning-enforced suspension of competition for nearly two hours on Saturday afternoon could not derail the inevitable. When action resumed, both champions maintained composure and closed with authority.
Celebrations unfolded under fireworks and music, with gospel artiste Jermaine Edwards providing the soundtrack to a triumphant night inside the National Stadium.
Sprint supremacy: Relays and raw speed define the night
Edwin Allen’s sprint machine once again proved decisive, particularly in the girls’ 4x100m relays. They secured two victories and two runner-up finishes across the classes, underlining their depth.
Their Class One quartet set the tone with a 44.43-second victory, while Class Four added another win in 47.64 seconds. Though edged into second in Classes Two and Three, their consistent presence at the front proved invaluable in the title race.
On the boys’ side, relay honors were shared. Excelsior captured Class One in 39.53 seconds despite the absence of their 100m champion, Jamaica College took Class Two in 40.32 seconds, and Wolmer’s dominated Class Three in 42.70 seconds.
Douglas delivers: A record for the ages
The performance of the championships belonged to Shanoya Douglas of Holland High.
Her electrifying run of 22.36 seconds in the Class One girls’ 200m not only shattered the Champs record but also established a new national junior mark, the fastest ever by a Jamaican junior female.
Running into a headwind, Douglas dismantled a strong field to complete a sprint double, reaffirming her status as one of the most exciting young talents in Jamaican athletics.
Doubles, records, and distance brilliance
Saturday’s program was rich with athletes completing dominant doubles and rewriting record books.
Julius Itubo of Kingston College delivered one of the standout distance performances, capturing the Class Three boys’ 800m in a meet record 1:57.52 minutes to complete his middle-distance double. Clarendon College’s Alex Jordan-Hall and Edwin Allen’s Kevongaye Fowler mirrored that feat in their respective 800m events after earlier 1500m victories.
Wolmer’s Natrece East added the Class Two girls’ 200m title to her 100m crown, while JC’s Jason Pitter secured his sprint double with victory in the Class Two boys’ 200m.
Ryan Achau of St Jago stamped his authority on the distance scene, winning the 5,000m in 14:42.32 minutes, the second-fastest time in Champs history.
Meanwhile, Denbigh High celebrated a historic breakthrough as Markland Williams delivered the school’s first-ever Champs victory with a superb run in the Class Two boys’ 800m.
Field and hurdles: Records fall, battles intensify
In the field, Edwin Allen’s Addison James produced a landmark performance, launching the javelin 70.30 meters to break the championship record, surpassing the previous mark multiple times in a dominant series.
Clarendon College’s Marla Kay Lampart added to her school’s success with victory in the Class Two girls’ shot put.
Over the barriers, Tashana Godfrey of Edwin Allen equaled the Class Three 80m hurdles record (10.80), successfully defending her title, while Hydel’s Robert Miller and St Jago’s Marquies Page led the charge in the sprint hurdles on the boys’ side.
Hydel mounted a spirited challenge through strong performances in the high jump and hurdles, steadily reducing the deficit at key points, but Edwin Allen consistently found answers to every surge.
Momentum swings and final pushes
Kingston College and Hydel both threatened late rallies, chipping into the leads through disciplined scoring across multiple events.
KC gained ground in the sprints and hurdles, even outscoring JC in key segments, while Hydel cut Edwin Allen’s margin significantly midway through the final day.
Yet each push was met with an immediate response. Whether through middle-distance control, sprint depth, or field event dominance, the eventual champions absorbed the pressure and extended their advantage when it mattered most.
A Championships to remember
From record-breaking sprints to historic firsts, from lightning delays to electrifying finishes, Champs 2026 delivered drama at every turn.
But above all, it will be remembered for its clarity of outcome.
Two teams. One color. Total control.
Edwin Allen and Jamaica College did not merely win, they defined the championships from start to finish.
