PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania: Jamaican high school girls won three gold medals in the field events at the 127th Penn Relays Carnival at Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus on Friday.
Cedricka Williams from Holmwood Technical set the stage by successfully defending her High School Girls’ Discus Throw Championship title with a throw of 57.23m, breaking the previous meet record of 54.72m set by Shanice Love of Excelsior, also from Jamaica, in 2016.
Williams, who is ranked third among the World Athletics Under-20 athletes in the event, achieved her record-breaking throw on her fourth attempt after opening with a throw of 39.41m.
Camperdown High’s Britannia Johnson and St Jago High’s Jade-Ann Dawkins then joined Williams atop the podium.
Britannia won the High School Girls’ Shot Put Championship with an effort of 14.04mshortly after her twin sister Britannie secured the bronze medal in the discus.
With the victory, Britannia becamethe third Jamaican to win the shot put, after Nadia Alexander of St Hugh’s in 2004 and Danielle Sloley of Immaculate Conception in 2019. Jessica Oji from Livingston High School in New Jersey, USA finished second with an effort of 13.86m.
Jamaican high schools occupied the other two spots.
Rochele Solmon of Edwin Allen finished third with 13.57m and Juliet Smith of Immaculate Conception fourth with 13.00m.
Jade-Ann Dawkins of St Jago High reacts after landing in the triple jump pit. (PHOTO: Marlon Reid).
Dawkins won the High School Girls’ Triple Jump Championship with an effort of 13.02m to beat Sophia Curtis (12.45m) from Ocean City High School in New Jersey and Llyric Driscoll (12.38m) from Western Branch High School in Virginia.
Mount Alvernia High’s Aaliyah Foster (5.78m) and St Elizabeth Technical High School’s Richelle Stanley (5.71) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the High School Girls’ Long Jump Championship.
Avery Lewis from Friends’ Central School in Pennsylvania won the gold medal with an effort of 6.21m.
Aaliyah Willary, a 14-year-old from Rhodes Hall was second in the High School girls’ High Jump Championship with 1.70m, the same height as her Jamaican teammates third-place Shanniqua Williams from Wolmer’s and fourth-place Deijanae Bruce from Edwin Allen.
Samantha Strydesky from New Jersey, USA also cleared 1.70m for the victory.
