Anthony Foster, Gleaner Writer

Rupert Green (centre), male winner of the 2008 Burger King/Jamdammer Road Race Series, poses with his trophy at Sunday's presentation ceremony. Second-place finisher Kemoy Campbell of Bellefield High (right) and Conroy Crossman of Edwin Allen also pose with their trophies. - Anthony Foster photo

Kemoy Campbell and Natoya Goule, both national junior representatives, won Sunday's Burger King 10K in Portmore.

However, Rupert Green and Arieta Martin did enough to take the 2008 Burger King/Jamdammer Road Race Series titles.

Campbell, of Bellefield High, and Manchester High's Goule both missed one race each while Green and Martin competed in all five events.

On Sunday, Campbell stopped the clock in 31.04 minutes to finish ahead of It Dat's Green (31.34), who needed to finish in the top five to clinch the crown.

Final race

Conroy Crossman of Edwin Allen who, along with Kirk Brown of Ebony Seek, started the final race within striking distance on 32 points, were third and fourth respectively, in 31:55 minutes and 32:02.

In the end, Green, with 43 points, beat Campbell (40), winner of four races and Crossman, who also finished on 40 points, but who claimed third because he was winless.

Green was pleased with his performance throughout the series as he said it was used as preparation for next month's Reggae Marathon.

However, he added that the series had improved tremendously over previous years.

"I saw where a lot of persons ran under 15 minutes for the 5K," he said, while making reference to Campbell's sub-14 minutes.

Third title

"It is setting us up well for a season where we could see people running low 13-minutes in the 5000m, which would be great for us (Jamaicans)."

In the female section, Goule started Sunday's final race knowing only a victory for her and a finish outside the top 10 by Martin would give her a third title.

She crossed the line in 38 minutes and 24 seconds, but Martin, a student at G.C. Foster College, was right behind in second 38:49 minutes.

Amoya Bailey finished third in 39:52 while Manchester High's Neisha Morgan was fourth in 39:58.

In the end, Martin prevailed with 47 points ahead of Goule (39) and Bailey (34).

Martin, who expressed delight with her title, her second and first in six years, welcomed the $40,000 prize money, which she said would help with her tuition.

Preparation

"This Grand Prix Series has been helpful in my preparation for Reggae Marathon," she said.

The series winners collected $40,000 each while Goule and Campbell took home $20,000 each for their schools. Edwin Allen and Holmwood, with Bailey and Crossman, picked up the third-prize cheques of $15,000 each.

In the high-school section, Edwin Allen boys (45 points) and Holmwood girls (46.5) took the top spots. They received $40,000 each.

Kellits and Holmwood (40 each) were the boys' runners-up, while Edwin Allen (44) finished second ahead of Manchester (36.5) in the girls' section.

Th second-place teams earned $25,000 while third took home $16,000.