TRIPLE MAGIC!

St Jago High’s Jade Ann Dawkins equalled a record third-straight triple jump title, while Excelsior High’s Najhada Seymoure won the discus throw and St Andrew High’s Shanniqua Williams retained her high jump title during the 129th Penn Relays Carnival at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Friday.

Dawkins etched her name in Penn Relays history after she became only the second athlete to win a third-straight High School Girls’ Triple Jump Championships after she produced 13.18m (-0.m/s), the second longest jump in the history of the event.

Dawkins, who also won a third-straight ISSA Girls’ Athletics Championships triple jump title last month, joins former Vere Technical jumper Kimberly Williams, who won from 2005-2007. Williams set the championship record 15.36m in her final year.

Hydel High’s Sabrina Atkinson, the Carifta Championships Under-20 girls silver medallist, was second with 12.51m (-0.6m/s). Destini Smith of Souderton of Pennsylvania was third. Holmwood Technical’s Mikayla Longmore finished fifth with 12.21m (-0.1m/s).

Williams of St Andrew High cleared a personal best 1.82m to retain the high jump title, beating top-ranked Daniel Noble of Wolmer’s Girls’ for the first time this year.

Williams had won the event last year, as a member of the Wolmer’s team but had lost a series of championship finals to Noble, including last weekend’s Carifta Under-20 girls decider.

She is now tied third best at the Penn Relays with Kimberly Williamson and Janique Burgher, both multiple winners from Edwin Allen High.

Noble was second with 1.77m, while Egypt Bolan of Lindenwood, New Jersey was third with 1.75m.

Amelia Montaque of Vere Technical cleared 1.65m, Carifta Under-17 champion Sackoya Palmer of St Mary High jumped 1.60m, the same height as Vere Technical’s Kijonna Lee.

Seymoure won the High School Girls discus throw championships with an effort of 51.01m to better her second-place finish last year.

Seymoure, the ISSA Championships Class One gold medallist, led a clean sweep of the top four places by the Jamaican athletes. Jamaicans have won the event 12 of the last 14 times it was held.

Seymoure led early but was passed by Able Mills of St Catherine High. Seymoure restored her lead in the fourth round as Mills eventually placed second with 50.09m

Clarendon College’s Jamelia Young was third with 47.54m and Abigail Bennett (46.99m) of Merl Grove High was fourth.

Hopes are high that the Jamaican girls’ high school relay teams will add to the two Championship of America titles won by their boys’ counterparts on Friday as the relays carnival enters its final day of competition .

Edwin Allen High and Holmwood Technical have qualified for the finals in both the 4x100m and 4x800m finals after the preliminaries, with the heats and the finals of the 4x400m set to be run on Saturday.

Hydel High, who led the qualifying in the 4x100m, will be seeking a third-straight 4x100m/4x400m double.

Two-time defending champions Hyde High led the qualifiers in the High School Girls’ 4x100m, running 44.55 seconds to win their heat.

Edwin Allen High, Wolmer’s Girls’, Holmwood Technical and St Mary High also made progress.

Edwin Allen High, who have won the event nine times, ran 44.64 on Friday; Wolmer’s Girls’ ran 45.50; and Holmwood Technical were fourth fastest with 46.00.

Bullis School of Potomac, Maryland, were the fastest American school with 46.10 seconds, followed by Archbishop John Carroll of Washington, DC (46.17). St Mary High made it back-to-back qualification with 46.18.

Excelsior High, who were 10th overall and just missed out on qualifying for the Championship final, led the qualifiers for the International final with 46.41. They were followed by St Jago High (46.75) and 15-time winners Vere Technical 47.09.

Bahamian schools Queens College (47.33) and St Augustine’s (47.41) also advanced.

Mount Alvernia High, who were 18th overall with 47.44, advanced along with St Andrew High (48.01). Charles E Mills of St Kitts/Nevis, the 215th ranked team with 50.88, and Oberlin High, who were ranked 228th with 51.01, also got into the final.