By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

HIGHLIGHTED by the Bahamas’ first 1-2 finish in the girls’ javelin and an impressive boys’ 4 x 400m relay run, the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine left their impression on the 2025 Penn Relays.

Edwards said he could not have been prouder of what he saw from the Big Red Machine over the weekend in Philadelphia.

“It was one of perseverance. It’s been a very long year and these kids battled back from injuries and defeats and disappointments,” Edwards said.

He was referring to their loss to the Queen’s College Comets at the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ Track and Field Championships before they won the most divisions at the National High School Championships.

A prime example came in the girls’ javelin where Dior-Rae Scott, coming off her silver medal performance at the CARIFTA Games in Trinidad & Tobago, pulled off the victory, while Kamera Strachan, who didn’t make the team, secured second place ahead of third place finisher Taysha Stubbs of Queen’s College, who won the CARIFTA gold medal.

“Dior-Rae was battling injuries all year, but she was resilient to go to Penn and be strong enough to get back into the groove and Kamera showed her disappointment in not making the CARIFTA team,” Edwards said.

“For most of the athletes who did compete at CARIFTA, it’s been a long year, but we were still pleased that they were able to put together some solid performances at Penn.”

Edwards drew attention to the boys’ 4 x 400m relay team that saw Jahcario Wilson trip and fall on the first leg, but still managed to get up and pass the baton off in the pack. 

But it was the anchor leg by Eagan Neely, who stormed from about fourth place to run a brilliant anchor leg to propel the Big Red Machine to victory. The other two members of the team were Dylan Simon and Jireh Woodside. Neely and Wilson provided the gold rush for the under-17 boys’ team at CARIFTA. While Neely pulled off a double feat in the 200m and 400m, Wilson captured a pair of gold in the 110 and 400m hurdles. The two also teamed up to win the gold in both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400m relays.

Edwards said all of the other athletes performed exceptionally well in their events at the Penn Relays. He noted that the coaching staff and principal Marici Thompson was thrilled by the Big Red Machine’s overall efforts.

• Here’s a look at the results posted:

High school girls’ javelin - Dior-Rae Scott won with 48.5 metres and Kamera Strachan came in second with 46.74m.

The girls 4 x 100m relay team of Darvinique Dean, Khylee Wallace, Bayli Major, Madison Moss and Caitlyn Smith placed second in their heat in a time of 47.41 to qualify for the international final where they finished third in 47.90 for an overall ranking of 17 out of a field of 547 schools.

The girls’ 4 x 400m relay team of Alexis Roberts, Darvinique Dean, Syrmiah Crawley and Daveigh Farrington placed 4th in their heat in 3:50.27 for an overall ranking of 19 out of 475 schools.

In the high school boys’ 4 x 100m relay, the team of Trent Ford, Eagan Neely, Jahcario Wilson, Nijae McBride and Shevano Nixon placed third in 43.01 to qualify for the international final where they placed second in 41.19 for an overall ranking of 83 out of 596 schools.

Despite falling and dropping the baton on the first leg, the boys 4 x 400m relay team of Wilson, Dylan Simon, Jireh Woodside and Neely ran 3:30.55 to win their heat to end up 37th overall in a total of 636 schools.

And on the field, the Big Red Machine got 11th and 12th from Damien Brice and Carlin Archer with leaps of 13.83m and 13.76m respectively. 

“We are very pleased with the performances of our athletes from St Augustine’s College at the Penn Relays this year,” Edwards summed up. 

“We are looking forward to next year.”