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<DIV>Even Leroy Burrell, former world record holder of the 100m, says that not even the Olympics will give you such an environment. The environment he was talking about is the one that makes athletes such as Yohan Blake perform at such a high level this past weekend. Burrell thinks it would be hard to repeat such performances in the short term because the atmosphere at Champs brings about an adrelanine high that cannot be repeated at any other meet in the world. And he is right! </DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>People, if you are not a T&F fan, and I suspect only a few of us aren't, you need to put Champs on your calendars and plan your vacations around it. You have to be there! Words cannot explain the thrill!</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>This year, it was first year Class 1 athlete, Blake, who stole the show, setting records, all by himself in the 100m, the 4x100m and the 4x400m relays. Yes, he had teammates in the relays but I don't remember any of them being so special over the flat distances. Blake was the difference. He is an absolutely superb sprinter who will soon break the only record that evaded him on Saturday, Usain Bolt's stupendous 20.25s over 200m.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>I can't wait for the match up next yearbetween Blake and Ramone McKenzie of Calabar who set the Class 2 200m record of 20.89s.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Talk about match-ups - the 100m clash between Blake and Remaldo Rose was the most anticipated clash in all of high school T&F. All of grandstand was on their feet before the athletes took to their blocks, you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. There are few 10 second activities that can generate such excitement. (Easy with the jokes, now! 
)</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>The other stellar performance at this year's meet were those by Kemoy Campbell in the 1500m and the 5000m. You no longer take a bathroom break during these races, because you just might miss him. Had he lost the 1500m on Friday he would have been the laughing stock of the meet. He opened up and surprisingly maintained an 80m gap with the rest of the field after the first lap. And if that wasn't enough he came back the next day and won the 5000m by half a track! Never seen the likes of that in my entire life! I thought he was going to lap the entire field.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Others stars for me were:</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Danielle Jeffrey of ICHS who won the Class 2 sprint double. I understand that Stephen Francis agrees with me that she showed perhaps the most potential with an excellent running style and raw speed.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Cardene Copeland of Wolmer's Girls in the sprint double for Class 3. </DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Kerrion Stewart of KC who obliterated the 110m hurdles record from 13.79 to 13.53!</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>And of course, Munro's Rolando Reid who recovered from an uncharacteristic poor start to win the 100m Class 3 in 11.05s, only 6/100 of a second from the record. </DIV>
)</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>The other stellar performance at this year's meet were those by Kemoy Campbell in the 1500m and the 5000m. You no longer take a bathroom break during these races, because you just might miss him. Had he lost the 1500m on Friday he would have been the laughing stock of the meet. He opened up and surprisingly maintained an 80m gap with the rest of the field after the first lap. And if that wasn't enough he came back the next day and won the 5000m by half a track! Never seen the likes of that in my entire life! I thought he was going to lap the entire field.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Others stars for me were:</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Danielle Jeffrey of ICHS who won the Class 2 sprint double. I understand that Stephen Francis agrees with me that she showed perhaps the most potential with an excellent running style and raw speed.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Cardene Copeland of Wolmer's Girls in the sprint double for Class 3. </DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Kerrion Stewart of KC who obliterated the 110m hurdles record from 13.79 to 13.53!</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>And of course, Munro's Rolando Reid who recovered from an uncharacteristic poor start to win the 100m Class 3 in 11.05s, only 6/100 of a second from the record. </DIV>
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