JC’s Bygrave pulls off stunning win at Penn

Kemarrio Bygrave pulled off one of the most outstanding performances among high school athletes at the recent Penn Relays, as he had an unbelievable run to propel Jamaica College (JC) to victory in the Championships of America boys' 4x800 metres relay.

Bygrave collected the baton on the anchor leg in third place, some 30 metres behind St. John's College's anchorman, who extended his lead after the first lap and looked like taking them home to victory.

Bygrave, with over 100 metres to go, still looked unlikely to catch the leader, although he had improved his position to second.

However, in what was a tremendous comeback in the final 50 metres and inspired by the cheers of the large Jamaican crowd, Bygrave pulled off a big win as the St John's College runner wilted under the pressure, with his legs buckling close to the line as Bygrave had a split of 1:51.72 minutes, bringing home JC for the win in 7:42.37.

The experienced Bygrave said: "When I got the baton that far, I just wanted to get closer as I knew I had the mindset to catch him back. I never gave up, as my coach always tells us that the race is not over until you cross the finish line."

Bygrave, who was also a member of the winning team two years ago, stated that this win was more special to him.

"This was my final time competing for JC at the Penn Relays and I wanted to end on a bang after doing well at Champs and the Carifta Games," he said.

He was even more motivated being JC's leader.

"In 2022, I was the baby of the team and now, being the most experienced member of the team, the job was to help and guide my fellow teammates, and I knew I had to lead from the front and ensure that the team was victorious," said Bygrave.

The other members of the team were Nellie Ambriton, Samuel Creary and Raheed Pryce.