Calabar to turn back the Penns clock

EIGHT YEARS ago, a Calabar High School 4x100-metre relay quartet – Tyreke Wilson, Christopher Taylor, Michael Stephens, and Dejour Russell – had the large Saturday afternoon crowd at Franklin Field in a frenzy at the Penn Relays, delivering a stunning 39.00 seconds to capture the Championship of America relay in record time.

Their winning time on that cold Saturday afternoon could have been even faster if Russell hadn’t significantly slowed down close to the finish line, as a sub-39-second clocking was definitely on the cards.

Fast-forward to 2025 and, after last winning the title in 2018, the Red Hills Road-based team is on track for another spectacular performance.

With eight titles – currently tied for second with St Jago High – a win here would move them to the top, alongside Camperdown High, Boys and Girls from New York, and Mercersburg Academy out of Philadelphia.

Calabar enters the meet as the fastest team, following their 39.69 seconds clocking at the Gibson McCook Relays. Jamaica College (39.88) and Excelsior (39.98) also dipped under the 40-second barrier, finishing second and third, respectively.

Since then, Kingston College have also gone sub-40 with 39.78 seconds at Champs, where they were promoted to first after the disqualification of Calabar. KC also won the Grand Slam meet, clocking 39.95, ahead of Excelsior (39.98) and a weakened Calabar team, who finished third in 40.32.

The preliminary round of the Penn Relays will take place on Thursday at 9:30 a.m., with the finals set for Friday.

Calabar sprinters, led by Jamal Stephenson, have been in exceptional form. Although he was disqualified for a false start in Class 1 at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Championships, he bounced back at the Grand Slam meet with an impressive win in the 100m.

He further elevated his status at the Carifta Games on the weekend, producing a lifetime best of 10.24 seconds to win the under-20 boys’ 100m.

At the same meet, teammate Shaquane Gordon broke the under-20 110-metre hurdles record with a personal best of 13.19 seconds, while Junior Gallimore placed third in the under-20 boys’ 200m with 21.01 seconds.

Both Gordon and Stephenson were part of the Jamaican team that struck gold in the boys’ under-20 4x100m relay on the weekend – proof that they are in incredible form heading into the Penn Relays.

With Khamani Gordon set to join his teammates in the line-up for Penns, they are undoubtedly the overwhelming favourites.