Thursday, April 23, 2009

            Coretta Smith (l.) from Albany, NY and Nadine Watson  from Bensalem, PA

With the promise that Usain Bolt and other top performers from the Beijing Olympics are down to compete at the Penn Relays this weekend, the event has elicited a buzz of anticipation unlike any other in recent years.

Tens of thousands of Excelsorians and other Jamaicans will cram Philadelphia’s Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania this weekend to cheer on a host of Jamaican athletes  representing a slew of Jamaican high schools and colleges.

Traditionally the Excelsior Alumni Association would set aside funds to sponsor athletes representing  the alma mater and alumni would turn out in droves to cheer them on. Now with the school not being able to qualify a team the alums have turned to cheering for any team in the Excelsior colors as well as other teams from Jamaica.

Donna McKenzie an ardent track and field fan, who has not missed a single Penn Relays since her first visit in 2000, will make the two hour trip with friends from her home in Maryland to soak in the experience and cheer on all the Jamaican schools

“Penn Relays is a chance to see friends who you have not seen in years. It is almost as if you are at Champs at the National Stadium in Jamaica” she explained to AgeNotes.

“April is my month because I just returned from attending Champs in Jamaica and I am taking time off work to attend all three days of Penn Relays. This is my time!” the track fanatic continued.

It is a sentiment shared by many other Jamaicans who will descend on Philadelphia in cars, by air or by train to form the bulk of the expected 100,000 fans occupying the seats in the stadium.

 Many will jet in from around the world, from across the United States and Canada and from Jamaica, including Karen Phillips-Thompson and Pauline Stewart, to join alumni resident in the Northeastern United States to cheer on their alma maters.  Some will have the added incentive of cheering on children and other family members as they compete at the 115 years old event.              

Jamaican Coretta Smith Williams who lives in Albany, New York has made the four hour drive each year to meet up with her niece Gillian Smith and friends, including Nadine Watson, another Jamaican, from Bensalem, Pennsylvania. With bragging rights at stake, Coretta usually engages in spirited, if playful banter with her American rivals to the amusement of her friends.

                                         (l-r) Althea Brown Robinson, Earl "Wire" Robinson, Newton "Archie" Richards          

Newton “Archie” Richards and his wife, Sharon, will fly in from their home in Texas to join Sharon’s brother, Earl "Wire" Robinson and his wife Althea from Florida. For them this weekend will hold special significance because apart from cheering on the Jamaican high schools and tertiary institutions they will also lustily cheer for Jamaican-American Sanya Richards the USA 4 x 400m Olympic gold medalist who also happens to be the daughter of Sharon & Archie and the niece of Earl and Althea.    

Sanya has roots deeply embedded in Excelsior because apart from her father Archie Richards, and uncle Earl "Wire" Robinson and aunt Althea Robinson, two other aunts, Maureen and Claire Robinson are also XLCR Alumni. 

                                             Sanya Richards, the USA Olympic champion

                                                                   who has roots deeply embedded in Excelsior

Other Jamaicans looking forward to their first opportunity to salute their Olympic heroes in person will drape their shoulders with Jamaican flags and adorn their bodies with clothing in the national colours of gold, green and black.

Expatriate Jamaicans wanting to feel a little bit of connection to home have come to view Penn Relays as a chance to display their patriotism, fueled by a sense of nostalgia.  And they have will have much to cheer about.

Over the more than 40 years since Excelsior and other Jamaican schools have been participating at Penn Relays, the annual carnival has become a calendar event for many track and field aficionados.  Since Neville Myton led the first team of Excelsior athlete to compete at Penn Relays more than four decades ago, Jamaican schools have also come to thoroughly dominate the annual athletic festival.