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Dyke impressed with Edwin Allen’s ‘strong showing’ at Western Relays
February 10, 2025
Head coach of Edwin Allen High School's girls' track and field team, Michael Dyke, has praised his athletes after their dominant showing at last Saturday's 46th staging of the Western Relays at GC Foster College. The team delivered outstanding performances in both individual and relay events.
With five individual victories along with five relay wins, Dyke believes his team is well prepared to successfully defend their title at the March 25-29 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships.
"I am pleased with my girls' performance at the Milo Western Relays, although our Class IV relay team faced challenges due to confusing instructions from officials. However, they are young and will learn from that experience," said Dyke.
"Overall, our team delivered a strong showing, focusing on championship events. While we lost the 4x800m relay, we were satisfied, considering that we were not at full strength. We are continually refining our combinations going forward," Dyke added.
Class IV sprint hurdler Amoya Morris got things started for the Frankfield-based team. After a disappointing performance the previous week at the Youngster Goldsmith Classics -- where she fell close to the finish line in the preliminary round despite a healthy lead--she bounced back with a personal best of 10.75 seconds to win the 70m hurdles.
Edwin Allen continued to impress in the hurdles, securing victories in the Class III 80m and Class I 100m events. As they did at the Youngster Goldsmith Classics, Edwin Allen secured a quinella in the Class III 80m hurdles, with Tashana Godfrey winning in 11.20 seconds ahead of her teammate Malacia Gordon, who clocked a personal best of 11.48 seconds.
Santae Wilson sealed the deal in the Class I 100m hurdles, following up on her success from the previous week by winning in 13.91 seconds -- her third consecutive sub-14-second performance.
Edwin Allen's other individual victories came from Denique Palmer, who won the 1500m Open in a season best 4:43.90, and Shamoyea Morris, who set a meet record in the Class I discus with a throw of 48.71 metres.
RELAY DOMINANCE
Class I athlete Jounee Armstrong played a pivotal role in Edwin Allen's relay success, delivering two brilliant legs in the 4x100m and 4x400m Open events. Running the second leg in the 4x100m, she put her team in the lead, helping them secure victory in a fast 44.98 seconds.
She then returned to team up with Maria Crossfield, Shanique Cassanova, and top intermediate hurdler Kelly-Ann Carr in the Open 4x400m, where they delivered a commanding performance to win in 3:38.38.
Edwin Allen's other relay triumph came in the sprint medley relay, where they clocked 4:10.67.
Holmwood Technical secured two victories on the day. They set a meet record of 8:49.32 in the 4x800m relay and later captured the 4x200m Open event in 1:38.95.
St Andrew High won the Class IV 4x100m relay in 49.37 seconds, as Edwin Allen and Holmwood failed to finish the race.
KC, EDWIN ALLEN SHINE
Despite being under early pressure to retain their Mortimer Geddes title in their school's 100th anniversary year, Kingston College (KC) showed they are not ready to relinquish their crown, dominating the boys' division with four relay victories.
KC won three of the four 4x100m relays -- Class IV in 46.36 seconds, Class III in 44.15, and Class II in 42.30. A brilliant anchor leg from Brian Kiprop sealed victory for the North Street team in the 4x800m, where they clocked 7:48.78, just ahead of Jamaica College (JC), who finished second in 7:49.71.
The Edwin Allen boys also made their mark with three big wins. They secured victory in the Class II 4x200m in 1:29.39 and the Class I 4x200m in 1:25.25, before closing the meet in thrilling fashion in the Open 4x400m.
In what was the most exciting race of the day, Edwin Allen held off KC and JC in a dramatic finish to win the 4x400m in 3:12.43. KC clocked 3:12.76 for second, while JC finished third in 3:12.87.
