As Seen in The Jamaica Gleaner

Our Lady of the Angels (OLA) made a valiant start, amassing 17 points after two finals, and leaping to the top of the pack during day one of the 2025 JISA Prep Schools Championships, powered by GK General Insurance and GK Mutual Funds, at the National Stadium on Thursday.

The 48th staging of the three-day meet continues today at 9:00 am with four finals in the Class 1 girls’ high jump, Class 2 girls’ long jump, Class 1 boys’ high jump, and Class 2 boys’ long jump.

Strong Opening Day

Following OLA’s lead, the combined standings from yesterday’s finals are Mona on 12 points, Emanuel Christian Academy 11, Vaz Preparatory with 9, St. Andrew Prep with 7, Morris Knibb with 6, and defending champions Sts. Peter & Paul with 5.5 points. 

Zion Reid won the first final of the day, the Boys’ Class 2 high jump, with a personal best of 1.35m. This is an improvement on his 2024 second-place finish in the final with a leap of 1.25m. Vaz Prep’s Julani Robinson placed second with a jump of 1.25 meters, and Kamran Jones from Emanuel Christian Academy placed third with the same leap.  

The second final of the day, the Girls’ Class two high jump was won by Mona Preparatory’s Leila Bell with a jump of 1.15m, closing in second and third place with the same leap were St. Andrew Preparatory’s Emily Young and Morris Knibb’s Kristen Williams.

On the track side, the Girls’ Class 1, 100m dash got underway with an impressive opening heat from Paris White of Stella Marris leading with a win of 13 seconds. Finishing second in heat one was Kailyn Kadeija Ottey of Williams Elite Academy with a personal best 13.88 and Laila Binns rounded out the top three in that heat with a finishing time of 14.10 seconds.

Jamaica’s Future Track Stars Secured

Speaking on the prowess of her athletes this year and their ability to take home the trophy on the final day, Grace Bourah, Head Coach of OLA shared that she believes the team is ready. She also shared that despite the departure of previous stars to high school; they are not in a rebuilding phase like other schools.

“Well, we expected to be in the lead after day one, we’re taking each day step by step. Its a smaller team than last year but they are power packed but as we say ‘fear none, trust God, have fun, and we are angels with wings. They are ready to take on (the championships) because our PE (Physical Education) programme is so structured that each age group as they move along, they move with their events or change to another event, they participate in every single event, (they) don’t specialize and then they choose an event or the event chooses them.”

On her preparation for this year’s meet, Bourah said that she went for quality over quantity, doing more specific things this year with a concentration on technical (skills) that will help athletes conserve energy with all the events that they have to do.

“For example, Zion Reid who won the high jump today, he’s an excellent athlete but he can do every single event, it’s just a matter of managing where he goes, how he does it, and what he’s going to do to time manage everything so that he has enough recovery period.”

Noting the toll an active extra-curricular life takes on the children at this stage, she admits it was a challenge ensuring that her athletes balance it all. “It was a challenge for us, they have PEP, extra lessons and other activities, it’s a lot but my team is made up of athletes that like to compete, and they enjoy the track”.

She noted that given the tight schedule the athletes have and the number of events as well as the number of teammates present, they may not have what it takes to win. 

“It’s not going to be possible for us to win this year given the number of athletes that we have and the number of events, but you never know, this is Champs, lots of things can happen.”

With over 2000 athletes from 41 schools competing, title sponsors, GK General Insurance and GK Mutual Funds weighed in on the meet after day one.

Chaluk Richards, Managing Director of GraceKennedy General Insurance, co-title sponsors for the meet commended the students for their drive, passion, and determination throughout the day’s events. He noted the importance sports play in their overall growth and development, expressing his anticipation for more head-to-head finals as the meet continues into the weekend, noting it as ‘the perfect sports event for the family.’

The overall winners of the meet will receive $40 million in insurance coverage courtesy of GK General Insurance with each first-place winner receiving $15,000 cash to start their GK Mutual Funds Investment portfolio. The event wraps on Saturday, June 14.