By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE year of upsets in track and field continued yesterday at the 2025 Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) Track and Field Championships hosted at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

The SC McPherson Sharks pulled off an historic comeback victory in the junior division to deter the CH Reeves Raptors from claiming their fifth consecutive GSSSA track and field crown.

The Sharks amassed a winning total of 679 points to claim their first GSSSA track and field title in the school’s history.

The Raptors lost their day one advantage and fell to the second spot with 643 points.

The HO Nash Lions climbed ahead of the DW Royals to wrap up the junior portion of the meet in third with 483.50 points.

SC McPherson’s head coach Neketa Sears-Knowles was overjoyed after the Sharks first GSSSA Track and Field Championship win.

“Words cannot express how awesome we feel right now. This has been a long time in the making and we are eternally grateful for all of the hard work from our whole staff and our whole team. It has been a long road but we are very grateful and ecstatic,” she said.

Coming into day two of the GSSSA Track and Field Championship, the Sharks were trailing by just 45 points but mounted a strong rally on Thursday to dethrone the defending champions.

Coach Sears-Knowles shared day two’s strategy with reporters.

“We had a conference call last night. We went over the results and we saw that we were lacking in the field events so when the kids came to the field this morning we had a real talk with them. We told them where our deficits were, we told them how close we were and what we needed to do. They maximised all of those weaknesses and we are grateful. It is wonderful,” she said.

The Sharks prevailed in the under-17 girls’ division and under-13 boys’ divisions.

Meanwhile, the Raptors nabbed victories in the under-15 girls’ and boys’ divisions and under-17 boys’ divisions.

Junior Division

The Sharks snuck away with a few victories in the field events.

Breon Neely soared to a winning jump of 1.44m for the Sharks in the under-13 boys’ high jump event.

The Royals’ Reynaldo Pierre secured the second place finish at 1.42m.

Deon Fowler rounded out the top three for SC McPherson at 1.34m.

The Sharks’ Ryan Rolle turned in a winning toss of 8.34m in the under-13 boys’ shot put event. Placing second was AF Adderley’s Jayden Glinton at 8.10m.

It was once again the Sharks in the third spot with Makai Symonette posting a throw of 7.67m.

D’Asia Albury, competing for SC McPherson, was a cut above the rest in the under-17 girls’ long jump event.

She posted a winning jump of 4.24m. Gianna Gibson, of HO Nash, was the second best finisher at 4.21m. The Sharks’ Soleil Rahming came away in third with her jump of 4.19m.

SC McPherson also had some brilliant performances on the track.

The newly crowned champion got a perfect one-two punch in the under-17 girls’ 200m finals.

Naveah Mackey and Angel McPhee capped off the race with times of 26.08 seconds and 26.92 seconds for first and second place respectively.

The Royals’ Ormanique Curtis trailed for third in 27.96 seconds.

The victors picked up a pair of victories in the under-15 girls’ 75m hurdles and under-15 boys’ 80m hurdles events.

Tia Thompson crossed the finish line first in 13.52 seconds in the hurdles event. Rashae Robinson clocked 14.14 seconds to finish second for the LW Young Golden Eagles.

Kacey Coleby, competing for SC McPherson, completed the top three with a time of 14.16 seconds.

In the boys’ event, Gilberto Bain ran strong for a winning time of 13.07 seconds in the 80m hurdles.

CH Reeves’ Kevon Sinsurin was a few steps behind at 13.36 seconds for second place.

Clayton Murphy, representing HO Nash, fell to the bronze medal position in 14.01 seconds.

The Sharks also reigned supreme in the under-13 boys’ and under-17 girls’ 4x400m relays.

With such an historic victory under their belt, there is no doubt the Sharks will be in celebration mode for the rest of the year.

Senior Division

While the Sharks celebrated their junior championship victory yesterday, the CV Bethel Stingrays continued to maintain their double-digit deficit in the senior division.

The Stingrays remain in the driver’s seat with 343 points.

The defending champions CR Walker are holding onto second place with 300 points and the RM Bailey Pacers have racked up 198 points for third.

Taevia Wright, representing CV Bethel, won the under-17 girls’ 100m hurdles with a new GSSSA record of 16.64 seconds.

She replaced Janicka Collie’s 11-year-old record of 16.70 seconds.

Keilesha Saunders stopped the clock at 16.74 seconds in second place for CR Walker.

Kenisha Capron, competing for the Pacers, paced her way to a time of 18.40 seconds for third overall.

CR Walker’s Azaria Dean set a new GSSSA record in the under-17 girls’ long jump event.

She soared to a winning jump of 5.08m. Her mark replaced Alexis Miller’s former GSSSA record of 4.95m established in 2015.

The Stingrays’ Syraia Smith placed second in the event and Khloe Bonaby came third for CR Walker.

The senior portion of the 2025 GSSSA Track and Field Championships will wrap up today.

Will the Knights rebound for their eighth straight track and field title or will a new champion emerge on the senior side?