Manchester High last won Girls’ Champs in 1995. The school has produced a number of outstanding past and current stars, as well as bright prospects for Jamaica’s continued success in athletics. Here are some facts:
- Manchester High School has won the Girls’ Champs title three times – 1961, 1994 and 1995.
- Outstanding alumna Sherone Simpson is the fifth fastest Jamaican woman of all time over the 100m, behind behind Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.70), Merlene Ottey (10.74), Kerron Stewart (10.75) and Veronica Campbell-Brown (10.76). She is the sixth fastest Jamaican woman over the 200m with a personal best of 22.00 seconds, behind Ottey, Grace Jackson, Juliet Cuthbert, Campbell-Brown and Stewart. Simpson and Stewart tied for the silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, behind Fraser-Pryce.
- Another alum, middle distance queen Natoya Goule collected 14 gold medals over the course of her Champs career.
- Although not a gold medallist at Champs, Nesta Carter has gone on to become the sixth fastest man over 100m, with a time of 9.78 seconds. This time, set in August 2010, also made him only the fifth sprinter to run the 100m in less than 9.8 seconds. He has also been a member of all the world record-breaking 4x100m teams since 2008 – Beijing ’08, Berlin ’09 and London ’12.
Some information from Champs 100: A Century of Jamaican High School Athletics 1910-2010 by Hubert Lawrence
