All is in place for the Jamaican High School juggernaut to stamp its dominance when the 130th running of the Penn Relays gets underway on Thursday, April 23, at the Franklin Field Stadium in Philadelphia.

Team Jamaica Bickle, the US-based philanthropic organisation comprising members of the diaspora, has once again pulled out all the stops to ensure that the over 600 athletes and officials coming from Jamaica are as comfortable as possible as they head into the heat or cold (no pun intended) of competition.

Vice Chair of Team Jamaica Bickle, Karen Robinson, says they have put in all the necessary work to ensure the Jamaican athletes in their care are equipped to compete over the next three days.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s high-school teams will be defending four relay titles, as they look to continue the country’s dominance at the relay carnival.

Edwin Allen High’s girls will defend the 4×100 metres Championship of America title after posting 44.23 seconds to win last year. Three members of that winning team – Kereille Etienne, Reneica Edwards, and Alexxe Henry – will be back.

After their record-breaking run of 3:30.42 last year to make it four wins in a row, Hydel High will see the return of Sashana Johnson and Nastassia Fletcher, who have been part of three of the past winning teams.

Kingston College is the defending champion in the Championship of America 4×400 meters.

Kingston College won the 4x400m in 3:05.93 last year – and they will be hoping to make it five wins in a row. However, only one member of last year’s winning team, Jabulani McLeod, is returning.

Last year, the Calabar team clocked 39.78 seconds to win the 4×100 meters event; however, they have a depleted squad this time around, with Khamani Gordon returning and the injury-plagued Jamal Stephenson also set to be in the team.

This year, three Jamaican schools have gone under 40 seconds, including Excelsior, 39.53 seconds, Jamaica College, and Kingston College, both with 39.66 seconds, and it’s hard to see any of the American schools getting in between the Jamaican teams