Jake Smith sprinting to win the boys 3,000 metres ahead of Jackson Langley was the highlight of the first day of the Bermuda School Sports Federation high school track and field finals.

With strong winds on Wednesday not conducive for fast times to be recorded on the Flora Duffy Stadium track, the Warwick Academy schoolmates led the race from the start. Langley was in front until the last 100 metres when Smith beat him for pace to cross the finish line in 10min 31.29 sec.

With the distance not on offer at the Carifta Games for the under-20s, Smith was instead chasing the Warwick record but the wind put paid to his effort. His victory, though, did put him in contention for the BSSF champion boy, an accolade given to the athlete who wins at least three races.

“It was a good race and there was a huge headwind in the back straight,” Smith, 17, told The Royal Gazette.

“Out of the seven laps, I only went for it in the last 100 metres because I didn’t see the point in racing hard into that wind.

“Initially I was going for the Warwick Academy record, which is 9:56, but I realised that in this wind there was no chance. I know that I’m a quicker sprinter, so I went for the win in those last 100 metres.

“I’m going for the champion boy and I need to win three of my races to get that. I’m running the 1,500 metres and 800 on Friday, so I need to win those to get the award which I won last year.

“I did 4:08 in the 1,500 at Carifta last year and the record here is 4:06 so depending on the weather conditions, I’ll go for the record. The qualifying time for 1,500 is 4:10 and I’m looking to get that on Friday.”

Jaeda Grant, of Saltus Grammar School, clocked 12:33.33 to win the girls over-16 3,000 metres ahead of Carina Bortoli of Somersfield Academy.

“I maintained a good pace throughout the race,” the 16-year-old Grant said. “I used the other competitors to help me block the wind out.

“I feel like Carina really helped in keeping my pace calm. I did this event for inter-schools sports purposes, but 3,000 metres is a really hard race to run at Carifta because it’s usually fast for seven laps.

“For Carifta I’m only looking to qualify in the 1,500 and the 800 on Friday. Those are the same races I qualified for last year when we went to Grenada.”

Bortoli, who was chasing the 11:15 to qualify for Carifta, could manage only 12:37.34.

“Because the wind was so strong, I knew that I needed to have a really amazing race to get the Carifta standard,” she said.

“We were on time to beat the Carifta standard after the first lap but the wind was really strong on the back straight. The wind really makes you fatigued if you’re not behind anybody for a long time, but overall it was a really good race.

“On Saturday I ran 30 seconds faster than I did today in what was my first track meet. There was also a bit of a headwind on the weekend as well, so it didn't really help much.

“I’m just going to continue doing track meets and hopefully I can get the qualifying time in the 3,000 or the 1,500.”

Sanchez Smith saved his best for last to outwit Gianluca Bortoli in the boys under-16 3,000. Smith could not replicate the 9:48 achieved on Saturday to secure Carifta qualification, with 10:20.41 his winning time.

“It was just windy so Luca and I were taking turns on the back straight,” the 14-year-old said.

“I was just holding pace, then in the last 200 I just kicked. That was always the plan because I knew that there was not much on the front straight, so I knew I could push it really hard.

“I knew with the amount of wind there was no way I was going to get anything better than what I ran on Saturday.”

With Smith and Cameron Adkins having run faster times, the two appear likely to secure Bermuda slots in the 3,000 metres. Bortoli, who represented the island in the 1,500 and 3000 last year, conceded that his chances were not looking good as he has to record a quicker time than that duo.

“It would have been nice to run the Carifta standard time, but the wind was just too strong so I’m not disappointed at all,” Bortoli said.

“I definitely know I can get the standard, but now Sanchez and Cameron have run faster times. I would love to beat them and go to Carifta, but it would be tough.”