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KC, JC, Excelsior set for Class One 4x4 showdown
February 24, 2022
FANS ARE in for a treat, with a three-way battle looming in the high school boys' Open 4x400m relay which will bring the curtains down at the 45th staging of the Gibson McCook Relays at the National Stadium on Saturday.
The event, which is set to get under way at 5:05 p.m., will produce a 'dogfight' for top honours between Kingston College (KC), Jamaica College (JC) and Excelsior High School.
Defending champions KC have dominated this event over the years and after winning four years in a row - from 2017 to 2020 - the North Street-based school will possess the quality.
Following their close victory over KC (3:12.70), when they stopped the clock at 3:12.02, the David Riley-coached Excelsior will want to prove that their win was no fluke. Led by the outstanding Malachi Johnson, who anchored them to victory on that day, the Mountain View Avenue-based institution will be motivated by that win and surely they can go faster.
For KC, who had a short lead on the final leg, they will be hoping to go all the way, and thus turn around their Western Relays result. After St Lucian Michael Josephs anchored them to victory in 2020, KC will be hoping for another overseas-based athlete to continue this trend, as Emmanuel Rwotoomiya from Uganda has been their best quarter-miler so far and is expected to be given duties to take home the baton.
While Excelsior and KC are the two quickest teams so far, both could fall to third-ranked JC. The Old Hope Road-based school easily won at the Camperdown Classics in three minutes, 13.08 seconds, where they were actually running by themselves and won on a canter. With what is expected to be a strong line-up, this JC team, with Jayden Brown and Deandre Watkins, can go much faster and the highly motivated Neil Harrison-coached team could be the one to beat.
Even while the outlook appears that the battle for top spots will be between KC, JC and Excelsior, the event's record holders, Calabar High, and St Jago, will be hoping to spoil the party in what is expected to be a very close and competitive affair.
