On the crest of impressive performances through the weekend, Jamaica swept to a Carifta Games high of 79 medals at the National Sports Centre yesterday.

That tally ? 37 gold, 23 silver and 19 bronze ? exceeded the 76 which they carried home from last year?s junior athletics showpiece and reaffirmed their superiority in the annual regional classic. Trinidad & Tobago copped 22 medals and The Bahamas, 21.

Apart from the fireworks from Usain Bolt in the Boys? Under-20 200 metres, the Jamaicans were inspired to their best-ever showing by Kimberly Williams who, on her first jump, erased her year-old Carifta record of 12.18 metres for the Under-17 Girls triple jump.

The 15-year-old hopped, skipped and jumped to a new mark of 12.53 metres, surpassing 12 metres with all six jumps, her the fourth (12.38) and sixth (12.23) also breaking the old record.

?It feels very good. I was planning on breaking the record again because last year I broke it and I have it again now. But I was looking for 13 metres so I?m going for that now at Junior CAC,? said Williams who was determined to compensate for fourth place in the long jump.

The momentum was kept up with Natasha Ruddock, Akeem Smith (both Under-17) and Latoya Greaves winning their sprint-hurdles finals with Barbadian team captain Jesse King denying a Jamaica sweep in that discipline as he nosed out Patrick Lee for gold in the Under-20 Boys 110-metre hurdles.

Jamaica rebounded with a vengeance in the 200 metres ? again wresting three of the four gold medals in that event ? with Barbadian Dario Alleyne adding the Boys? Under-17 200-metre crown to his gold and silver in the 400 and 100 metres respectively.

As the Jamaicans bore down on their quest of setting a new record for overall medals, they collected three more golds in the 4x400-metre relays ? an injury to anchor Thean O?Connor in the home stretch of the Boys? Under-17 race clearing the way for Trinidad & Tobago (3:24.07 minutes) and The Bahamas (3:25.21 minutes) to take top billing as a courageous O?Connor limped to the finish in 3:47.24 minutes.

O?Connor had earlier outfoxed Trinidadian Jamal James to win the Under-17 Boys? 800 metres in 1:55.66.

?I ran him before and I knew he would go out fast so I just waited for my chance,? explained O?Connor who made a late surge for gold.

Others in the Jamaican limelight were Schilloni Calvert who celebrated the Girls? Under-17 sprint double; Robert Peddiar who won the Boys? Under-17 long jump with his final effort of 6.86 metres and iron-man Wilbert Walker who retained his seven-event heptathlon title with 4,977 points.

?I know it was time for me to step up because it was my last jump and I wanted another gold since I won triple jump already. I?m just glad that my best was good enough,? said Peddiar.

Meanwhile, Trinidad & Tobago?s Simeon Bovell recaptured the Under-20 Boys? 800-metre title which he won in 2002 but lost last year.

?It feels good. Under the weather conditions I couldn?t have run any fast time but I just planned around winning and regaining my title. I ran a smart race,? said Bovell who went to the front with 300 metres left and finished in 1:52.78.

Also making up for previous disappointment was Barbadian Sheldon Roach. He flung the discus to a winning distance of 47.25 metres in the Boys? Under-17 division ? a personal best on his second try ? to dismiss the dejection of finishing last in the shot put and javelin.

On Saturday, the Jamaican onslaught had continued in rampant fashion with the defending champions moving from 28 to 46 medals: 23 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze. The Bahamas on 16 and Trinidad & Tobago, 12, were a distant second and third at the time.

Jamaica won each of the four 4x100-metre relay finals ? with Usain Bolt anchoring the Under-20 Boys to within 0.05 seconds of the current record, clocking 39.48 seconds to the 39.43 seconds set by Jamaica last year.

It was agony for The Bahamas in the Under-17 Girls? sprint relay as a poor exchange between Bianca Stewart and anchor Kelly Rolle cost them silver.

Trinidad & Tobago?s Pilar McShine ? with her unusual running style of barely moving her arms ? endeared herself to the packed grandstand when she sped away from Jamaican Lorain McKenzie on the final lap to conquer the Girls? Open 3000 metres in 10:51.41.

While thrilled with the gold, the 17-year-old dreadlocked winner was ?not so impressed? with her time.

The Girls? Under-20 triple jump was a tight battle with the medal placings determined by a mere three centimetres with Jamaican gold medallist Althea Duncan leaping 12.85 metres to edge Prescillia Corneille of Guadeloupe into second with 12.84 metres. Duncan?s team-mate Peta-Gaye Beckford copped bronze with 12.83 metres.

Aymara Albury of The Bahamas also capped an unforgettable Carifta Games career clinching her second gold in the Girls? Under-20 shot put, having won the discus on Friday.