Higher heights - Distin, Burgher to threaten high jump record at Champs

The countback rule had to be activated to separate the top three girls in the Under-20 girls high jump at the Digicel Grand Prix Final last Saturday.

Lamara Distin of Hydel High School, Kaliah Jones of Excelsior ,and Janique Burgher of Edwin Allen soared to 1.80 metres in the gutsy wind at GC Foster College.

With the 2019 staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships a week away, the results of the high jump last Saturday is a real indication of how competitive the Class One high jump for girls will be.

Distin, who represented Vere Technical High School last year, is the defending champion. She has won all the duels between herself and Burgher so far this season, including the 1.84 metres she jumped to win the Central Athletics Championships title last month. Burgher cleared 1.81 metres that day, but she leads the class with 1.85 metres.

"I believe that myself and Lamara have the ability to go over 1.86m this year because we have been pushing each other," Burgher told STAR Sports earlier this season.

The record for the Class stands at 1.86m, a mark Chanice Porter set in 2012.

"Even though I am stepping up in the Class, I am not scared because defending champion is just a title and it means that it was done last year. My aim is just to get the record and the nine points for my school," Burgher said.

Distin has a personal best of 1.85 from last year. And with the presence of Jones and Camperdown High School's Ramona Hylton, the Champs record is indeed under threat.