Better than caffeine

• TWEET
• SHARE
• SHARE

Now here's a good way to wake people up on a Saturday morning: get four Jamaican teams in a high school 4x400m relay. Three such races just took places right in a row.

In the first race, St. Jago came in first in 3 minutes, 14.36 seconds, including a botched handoff between third-leg runner Sheldon Wilkinson and anchor Jerome Robinson that probably cost a good half-second. Wearing the green and gold colors of the Jamaican flag, St. Jago brought the house down with its come-from-behind win. Robinson just blew everyone away in the final leg.

The second race features Jamaican champions Camperdown and powerhouse Holmwood Tech. But it was an American school -- and one well known to Penn fans, no less -- that stole the show. DeMatha Catholic of Hyattsville, Md., alma mater of Steve Danley, pulled out the victory in 3:14.79, including a 46.5 second anchor leg from Jeremy Samuels. Camperdown finished second in 3:15.28 and Holmwood Tech was third in 3:16.42.

Even with the loss, the Jamaican flags are out in abundance, especially in the east end of the stands. The "whoop" corner at the last turn has been particularly busy with all these comebacks.

And here's a good result for Jamaica: a sweep of the top four spots in race 219. Kingston College blew everyone away with a time of 3:11.85, Mannings was second in 3:15.92, Ardenne third in 3:18.62, and last year's champions, Wolmer's Boys', was fourth in 3:20.92.