Chinapoo brothers in Benedict's team for Penn Relays

National junior sprinters Hakeem and Kadeem Chinapoo will form part of a St Benedict's team which will compete at the Penn Relays in Pennsylvania, USA from April 25-27.

The Chinapoo brothers excelled at the Secondary Schools Track and Field National Championship earlier this year, and both youngsters also struck gold at the 2024 Carifta Games in Grenada where Trinidad and Tobago landed a haul of 27 medals.

Competing in the under-17 age group, Kadeem landed one of TT's three individual gold medals at Carifta when he sped to a first-place finish in the 200-metre event. Kadeem, who copped an under-17 sprint double at the SSTF national championship in February, also landed a silver medal in the boys' under-17 100-metre final at Carifta, to go along with a silver medal in the boys' under-17 4x100-metre event.

Meanwhile, Hakeem teamed up with the trio of Mikhail Byer, Che Wickham and Dylan Woodruffe to help TT to an exciting gold-medal run in the boys under-20 4x100-metre relay final to upset the favourites Jamaica.

The Benedict's team also includes Lydell Baptiste, McKale Muhammed, Kyphm Richards and the lanky Jaden Grant, who also represents the school's football team as a centre forward in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL). Grant was a member of the Benedict's team which won the SSFL premier division title in 2022.

The Benedict's athletes will face familiar competition at the Penn Relays, as teams from Fatima College, Queen's Royal College and Trinity College East are also expected to feature at the event.

Over 40 Jamaican schools are expected to compete at the three-day event which has been a staple on the track and field circuit for over 100 years.