Matheson, Guwalani cop Sports Boy and Girl Awards out west

WESTERN BUREAU:

JABARI MATHESON, who won two medals for Jamaica earlier this year at the Carifta Games, and Mt Alvernia High School swimming sensation Shreya Guwalani are the Jill Stewart Montego Bay City Run Champions of the West Sports Boy and Sports Girl for 2026.

Matheson, who has been a standout athlete for William Knibb High School for several years, took home the Montego Bay Convention Centre’s Outstanding Male Student-Athlete of the Year Award, while Guwalani, whose brother Suraj Guwulani won the inaugural Boys Award last year, copped the St James Municipal Corporation’s Outstanding Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award.

For Matheson, whose growing re’sume’ in track and field has seen him representing the country at the 2026 World Under-20 Championship in the United States, sees being named Outstanding Male Student-Athlete of the Year as an important achievement in his drive for excellence.

“I feel good because I went through a lot this year (injury) and, to see that I was considered for this award and then becoming the top boy, I feel great,” he said. “An award like this will push other students to work hard to get better.”

Guwulani, who emerged champion at the 2026 Mayberry High-Performance Swim Classic, amassing an impressive 26 points, was equally ecstatic about her Outstanding Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award, which she sees as motivation to keep on striving to be the best she can.

“Receiving this trophy shows me that, no matter how hard things are for me, I can always manoeuvre around it and find myself back to the top,” said Guwulani, who battled serious injuries during the past year. “This sport is all about keeping a good mindset because, without a good mindset, there is no point in it.

Ashley Anguin, who conceptualised the Jill Stewart Montego Bay City Run Champions of the West Awards to reward and motivate promising young athletes, who are enjoying early success in their various sporting endeavours, highlighted the importance of identifying and nurturing young talents.

“Sometimes, before the medals, the national call-ups, the international victories and the headlines, someone simply has to look at a young athlete and say, ‘I see something in you,’” said Anguin, in giving an overview of the vision behind the event. “We see these athletes. We believe in them. We want the best for them.”

While Matheson and Guwulani copped the major awards, the other nine contenders also walked away with sectional awards in their respective sporting disciplines.

The breakdown read as follows: Maliek Wellington of St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), received the AFresh Distinguished Student-Athlete Award for football; Annalisa Powell, of Montego Bay High, copped the American Airlines Award for volleyball; Kyla Little, of Herbert Morrison Technical High School, received the Burger King Distinguished Student-Athlete Award in netball; Malia Housen, of Mt Alvernia High got the Caribbean Producers (Jamaica) Limited Award for track and field; Davieka Lewis, of STETHS, received the Cover Me Up Events Distinguished Student-Athlete Award in track and field; Selethel Johnson, of Munro College, was gifted the RIU Resorts Jamaica Award also for track and field; Tyler Linton, of Herbert Morrison, copped the Royalton Hotels and Resorts Distinguished Student-Athlete Award in basketball; Talon Longmore, of Cornwall College, took the S Hotel Resorts in swimming, while Ricardo Davis, also of Cornwall College, received the VIP Attractions Distinguished Student-Athlete Award in triathlon.

Two special awards were handed out to last year’s winners Shanoya Douglas and Suraj Guwulani, who were also presented with the Champions of the West ambassador pins, for their continued excellence on the track and in the swimming pool.