GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (CMC) – Deshaun Lamb’s record-breaking run in the Under-17 Boys sprint hurdles underlined Jamaica’s dominance as the perennial powerhouse once again showcased their superiority on the final day of the 48th CARIFTA Games here Easter Monday.

Jamaica swept all four sprint hurdles and relay finals early in the evening session before returning to put an exclamation mark on proceedings by also winning all four distance relays, at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.

In fact, the Jamaicans won 17 of the 21 events in the final session to finish the championship with 85 medals overall – 36 gold, 33 silver and 16 bronze.

Lamb’s performance epitomised his country’s swagger as he raced to a new time of 13.54 seconds, eclipsing countryman Vashaun Vascianna’s 13.60 set last year in The Bahamas.
Running out of lane four, Lamb was pushed all the way by teammate Niel-Matthew Sutherland, and crossed the line only narrowly ahead.

Sutherland took silver in 13.61 while Matthew Sophia of Curacao grabbed bronze in 13.64.
Rasheed Broadbell also led a Jamaica one-two in the Under-20 Boys sprint hurdles when he won in 13.26 – just outside of Wilhem Belocian’s five-year-old record of 13.23.

Running out of lane three, Broadbell started well, stumbled slightly when he crashed hurdle number three but stayed composed enough to recover and reach the line ahead of Vascianna in 13.32.

Kay-Lagay Clarke ensured another Jamaican sweep of the top two spots in the Under-17 Girls when she stopped the clock in 13.68 to win gold ahead of teammate Crystal Shaw (13.72).

Ackera Nugent, who claimed silver last year in the Under-17s, grabbed gold in the Under-20 Girls, winning in a time of 13.24.

Jamaica also lived up to their high billing in the sprint relays. The team of Shaw, Clarke, Brianna Lyston and Glacian Loutin combined to open the account with victory in the Under-17 Girls age group, winning in a time of 45.63.

They were not without a challenge, however, as Trinidad and Tobago pushed them all the way, especially on the anchor leg where Taejha Badal produced a searing run but just missed out.

There was no such drama in the corresponding Boys final as Christopher Scott, on the third leg, got the stick to anchor Bouwajhie Nkrumie first, leaving the last 80 metres as a straightforward affair.

Double sprint champion, Brianna Williams, then set in train her eventual capture of the Austin Sealy Award for the second straight year when she produced a fluent first leg in the Under-20 Girls final, as Jamaica took another uncomplicated victory in 44.25.
Trinidad and Tobago were a distant second in 45.11 with Barbados holding on to bronze in 45.52.

Jamaica faced their stiffest competition in the Boys Under-20s with Ryiem Robertson forced to chase down Bahamian Joel Johnson before catching him on the line, to win a thriller in 39.46, which was just outside of the CARIFTA record.

The contest on the backstretch seemed between Jamaica and Trinidad until Adrian Curry Jr produced a blistering third leg for The Bahamas to bring them into contention.

They were forced to settle for silver in 39.49 while Barbados held bronze in 40.18.
For the second straight year, Kevroy Venson of Jamaica took gold in the gruelling Boys 5 000 metres but made it look easy, producing a trademark kick over the last 100 metres to cross the line in 15 minutes 21.30 seconds.

The field events were not spared Jamaica’s wrath either. Rajuan Ricketts conjured up success in the Boys Under-17 triple jump when he measured 14.26 metres while Cobe Graham sustained the dominance with a throw of 18.62m to win the Under-20 Boys shot put.

In the Girls Under-17 discus, Cedricka Williams measured 47.94m to lead a Jamaica one-two, with Damali Williams grabbing silver with 40.87m.

Jamaica also swept the top two spots in the corresponding Boys event as Cobe Lawrence threw 53.32 for gold while Christopher Young took silver in 51.34.