Jamaica College (JC) will not successfully defend their High School’s 4x800m relays Championship of Americas title after they were eliminated from the preliminary heats on Thursday’s opening day of the 127th Penn Relays Carnival.
The three-day meet got going on Thursday morning inside the Franklyn Field at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, with Jamaica College (JC) winning their heat in a smart 7:49.29 minutes, only to be dumped out of the event via disqualification after reportedly employing an ineligible athlete in their quartet.
According to reports, athlete Nicholas Power, who transferred to JC from Calabar High School this year and was ineligible for the local Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, ran on one of the legs on Thursday.
However, the Penn Relays rules state that athletes who are ineligible for their national of state championships are also ineligible to compete at the Penn Relays.
Despite the absence of the defending champions, JC, Kingston College (KC) and St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) made progress to Friday’s Championship of Americas final.
KC won their heat in 7:54.79 minutes, while STETHS was second in their heat in 7:55.96 minutes behind Charlotte Catholic in 7:54.44 minutes.
Meanwhile, Calabar High and St Jago High schools did not contest the heats.
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