"She is a very talented young lady and I expect her to at least make the finals," Brown said.

St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), the Western Champs title holders, won their first gold medal of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/ GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Athletic Championships yesterday, with a terrific performance from 16-year-old Rochelle Farquharson in the girls Triple Jump Open.

The fourth-form student, attending the Championships for the fourth consecutive year, leapt to a personal best of 12.70 metres.

"I feel great because this is my personal best. I was at 12.12m and I have moved up to 12.70m, so I feel very good," Farquharson said.

She won ahead of Tanya Bryan of St Jago, 12.34m, and Shanieka

St Elizabeth Technical High School's Rochelle Farquharson propels towards gold.

Thomas of Vere Technical, who placed third with a jump of 12.29m.

At last year's championships, Farquharson finished a disappointing fifth, but was adamant that she would medal this year.

"I started training from last August. My coach helped me and I did a lot of work and preparation to come here," she said.

Farquharson will also be taking part in the Class Two long jump, which she is considered as a favourite to win.

Milton Brown, coach of STETHS, said he was not surprised at Farquharson's performance.

"Up to last night we were discussing that it was imperative for her to win this event as it would boost her confidence going into her other events," Brown said. "The coaching staff worked hard with her and we expected her to do well. We expect her to take two gold medals; the other in the long jump as it is her better event," he said.

Farquharson will also be partici-pating in the Class Two hurdles but, according to Brown, they did not have enough time to prepare her as they would have wanted, but they are still expecting her to do well.