IN THE SPOTLIGHT

ALUMNI & FRIENDS

CONGRATULATIONS GOLDEN EAGLES
XLCR 4×100 Penn Relays Champions
By Duane Coombs

Saturday April 27, 2024
The Excelsior Eagles annihilated the field in the prestigious Championship Of America Boys 4 x100 at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon
A quartet comprising Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green combined to stopped the clock in 40.45 secs to capture Excelsior’s first win in the coveted event since 1967.
Heartiest congratulations to the team, coach David Riley, DASH Athletics Foundation and the supporting crew who helped to engineer this monumental achievement.
Today’s triumph-after more than a decade of incremental progress-was one small step for the team and another giant leap in reigniting the long dormant track and field legacy at Excelsior High School.
AGE ANIMO!

ALUMNI & FRIENDS

Today, Thursday April 25 was the opening day of the 128th edition of the Penn Relays. It was a day for the females, particular girls’ high school events. The XLCR Lady Eagles competed in 4 events.

High School Girls’ Discus Throw Championship – Najhada Seymoure finished second with a throw of 48.08m to earn the Silver Medal. This is an impressive improvement over last year when she was 7th with 45.57m. Congratulations to her and Coach Michael Vassell. A very good lead-off for the Eagles 2024 Penn Relays Campaign.
High School Girls’ Shot Put Championship – Kahllah Bailey and Altonique James finished 5th & 6th. Good going by these two Lady Eagles who came into the competition ranked 7th & 12th respectively. Kudos to Coach Vassell, Jamaica’s leading throws coach.
High School Girls’ 4×100 Heats – The Lady Eagles team of Shakira Rhoden, Brennna Brown, Diandra Kelley & Mikela Coombs won their heat comfortably in 47.82 to advance to tomorrow’a High School Girls’ 4×100 International Final, which goes off at 2:10pm local time. Much love to Coach Joseph Small for his deduction and work with these young ladies.
High School Girls’ 4×400 – The Lady Eagles represented by Brennna Brown, Roneisha Johnson, Diandra Kelley & Mikela Coombs completed 4 laps of the Franklin Field oval in 3:51.81. However this performance was not good enough to get them into tomorrow’s High School Girls’ 4×400 Championship of America (COA) Final. Nonetheless a good effort by the young ladies. They’ll be back; improved and more experienced in 2025.

It was a good day for the XLCR Lady Eagles, notwithstanding the chilly conditions and the blimp in not qualifying for the 4x400mR COA Final. Tomorrow’s appearance in the High School Girls’ 4×100 International Final should cap off a good Penn Relays 2024 outing for the Lady Eagles.

The Eagles make their debut at this year’s renewal of Penns when Renaldino Medwinter competes in the High School Boys’ Long Jump Championship at 9:30am local time, tomorrow. Later in the day the high riding Eagles 4x100mR team will take the track for their heat in the High School Boys’ 4×100 Relay. They will wear bib ‘UK’ in event 329 which is slated to go off at 11:40am.
Meanwhile the Lady Eagles are down to compete in Event 345, The High School Girls’ 4×100 International Finals at 2:10pm.

Tomorrow should see temperatures in Philly to go from a chilly 49? (9?) at the start of the long jump to a sunny 59? (15?) for the Boy’s sprint relay heats.

Attendants at Penns who are desirous of purchasing XLCR Eagles supporter shirts may do so by the Palestra – the U of Penn basketball arena. Please ask for Garth Riley.

Reminder: Please visit the Excelsior Eagles TV YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=excelsior+eagles+tv…

ALUMNI & FRIENDS

Thursday, April 11, 2024

After winning the hearts of the Jamaican fans at Champs, the XLCR Eagles will attempt to do the same with the Jamaican and American athletics fans at the Penn Relays later this month. At Champs 2024, the Eagles were commended not only for their excellent performances on the track but also for their graciousness while celebrating their victories, as well as for their very attractive gear. The latter is thanks to our hard-working Special Projects Director, Mr. Phillip Riley, and our gear sponsor, SoccerXpress, a Kingston, Jamaica-based sports gear manufacturer.

In three weeks’ time, a contingent of 20 Eagles and Lady Eagles, along with their coaches, manager, and a chaperone, will take flight (literally) to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to take part in the relays, which runs from Thursday, April 25 to Saturday, April 27, 2024. Based on their Champs and seasonal performances, they expect to represent the Green and Gold from “137” with distinction in the following events:

Boys Sprint Relay – At Champs, the Class 2 Boys ran away with the title in 40.35, a time which could have copped the bronze medal in the Class 1 equivalent. Meanwhile, the Class 1 team, the Corporate Champions, and a favorite all year, had a mishap placing 4th in the final, nonetheless. Barring any unfortunate circumstances, XLCR will be hard to beat here.
Boys 4x400m Relays – All season, the Eagles’ long relay squad has been one of the best in the land. They are the only ones to have beaten the eventual Champs winners, KC, this year.
Girls 4x400mR – This squad set a school record, 3:44.73, at Corporate Champs and should be very competitive at Penn’s.
Girls Shot Put – Kahllah Bailey and Altonique James were 1-2 at Champs. Their performances at Champs could have gotten them both in the top 4 in the past two editions of the Relays.
Girls Discus Throw – Najhada Seymoure has been one of the most consistent Jamaican Junior discus throwers over the past 3 years, adding the Champs Class 1 title to the Class 2 crown she won 2 years ago. She’s also recently minted Carifta U20 bronze in Grenada. Her PB of 49.23m, set at Champs last month, would have placed her on the medal podium in both the last two Penns finals.

XLCr Eagles Fans Celebrate another Victory for the Green & Gold at Champs 2024
photosbybellamy.com

Clearly, the Eagles and Lady Eagles have some of the best young athletes in Jamaica, and they deserve an opportunity to parade their skills at this 128th run of the Penn Relays. However, without your assistance, their participation may only be a dream to them.

Flights are booked, accommodation has been reserved, and ground transportation has been provided, thanks…

ALUMNI & FRIENDS

Thursday, April 11, 2024

It is well known that Excelsior (XLCR) was the second Jamaican High School to compete at the world-renowned Penn Relay Carnival when they joined Kingston College in 1965, which had tremendous success there the previous year.

Fifty-nine years ago, XLCR’s Neville Myton won the 1 Mile Championship, becoming the first Jamaican schoolboy to win an individual event at Penn’s. The Mile relay team finished 4th in the Championship of America (COA) Final after leadoff runner Trevor Angus was spiked twice. Who says track and field is not a contact sport?

Photo from The DASH Athletic Vault

In the ensuing 4 years, XLCR teams coached by Tony Carr were to enjoy some great successes at Penn’s, winning One COA Sprint Relay title and coming 2nd in two while enjoying the runner-up spot twice in the COA Mile Relay.

With the de-emphasizing of the sport at the school, XLCR teams were absent from Penns for 40 years, only returning in 2013. This came about due to the motivation of then-new Boys Head Coach David Riley, who convinced DASH Athletics to mobilize the resources to take a team of 6 boys to Penns. After some deliberations, DASH Athletics agreed to Coach Riley’s proposal.

Since then, the school has had some good successes at Penns, a meeting that is now radically different and eminently much more competitive than when XLCR competed there in the 1960s.

2014 XLCR Eagles Penn Relays Contingent Celebrate After The Event
Photo from The DASH Athletic Vault

Some highlights of the return of the XLCR Eagles return to Penns:

The first two years didn’t see much success. In 2013, the 4x400mR team missed the COA final when leadoff man Jonah Morgan was tripped, resulting in the team finishing 4th in their heat. Penns 4x400mR heats are definitely a contact sport.
2014 saw a Lady Eagle competing at Penn’s for the very first time. Shanice Love finished 14th in the Girls Discus Throw Championship. Her entry sparked some debate among DASH members, who thought that at 16 years old, she was too young for such a competition.
2015 would see a change of fortune for the Eagles. They made the COA Finals for the first time in 47 years. finishing 6th. A Lady Eagle sprint relay team was also entered for the first time but did not make the COA final.
With the foundations for the renewed participation of the Eagles at Penns now firmly laid, the school went on over the next 6 stagings (2016 to 2023) of Penns to win: