WHEREVER THEY ARE AROUND THE GLOBE, JAMAICA’S COACHES RETURN HOME TO ATTEND THIS MASSIVE ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF TALENT AND RECRUITING OPPORTUNITIES.
Ready to shine!
High schoolers on show as Champs begin
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
After months of preparation since last year and competitions since January, the crème de la crème of Jamaica’s high school track and field talent will be on display over the next four days, starting this morning at the GraceKennedy/ISSA Boys and Girls Athletics Championships at the National Stadium.
Defending girls champions Holmwood Technical, who will be gunning for their seventh straight title, and Calabar High boys, who will be seeking their third straight and 22nd overall, will start as favourites.
One of the largest number of teams ever - 192 team comprising 98 boys and 94 girls schools - will compete for a share of the points.
Thirty-six boys schools scored at least a point last year while 33 girls schools got off the mark.
Four events - three girls and one boys - will be decided on today’s first day which starts at 8:15 am with the 110m hurdles event in the boys’ heptathlon.
The Boys’ Class One long jump will be decided as well as the girls’ triple jump Open and Classes One and Three discus throws.
Additionally, the first rounds of the 200m in all classes will be contested, as well as the 800m and the first rounds of the 4x100m relays.
Already, coaches of the defending champions are expressing confidence they will retain their titles but are expecting keen competition from the first day through Saturday’s final day.
Holmwood’s Maurice Wilson said he was not expecting a “pretty win” where his athletes will set many records and run fast times, but says “we will pick up one point here and two points there and be very happy.”
Wilson, who has been at the Manchester institution for 13 years since 1996, thinks it will take about 311 points to win the title after amassing 352 last year to beat Vere Technical, 210.5 and Edwin Allen, 206.
“Contrary to what many might be saying”, Wilson pointed out yesterday, “we will be very competitive in Classes One and Two”, adding that several schools who can’t win Champs will take vital points.
According to the championship-winning coach, schools such as The Queen’s, Herbert Morrison Tech, Wolmer’s Girls and Alpha Academy whom have outstanding athletes will “hurt those of us who are seeking championships honours”.
Wilson said his team has always responded well to pressure and believes if they are “pushed early, in the first two days, people will see the best of us”. He however cautioned that if they get away early, there is a possibility they could get complacent.
Holmwood have one injury concern in Class One runner Sashine Gayle, who Wilson says will compete only in the relays.
“She picked up an injury at Gibson Relays and I don’t want to rush her as I think she’s a special athlete and don’t want to rush her back too soon,” he told the Observer.
Meanwhile, respective coaches of Manchester High and Edwin Allen, Jerry Holness and Michael Dyke, who are expected to challenge Holmwood, are playing their cards close to their chests.
Both are predicting a close championships and said they will play their part, but claim they are not expecting to make a run at the title.
Dyke said Edwin Allen “will be very competitive, especially in Class One”, adding that it would take between 280 to 285 points to win the Champs.
Dyke told the Observer that Edwin Allen could win Champs “if all goes well for us and other teams take away points from the top schools”.
Holness backed down from making any predictions, saying Manchester High were going to Champs “not to challenge for the title but to compete well and compete from the start to the final night and to go for a place in the top four”.
He said they will score the bulk of their points on the track as "we are still struggling to put together a competitive field events programme, but noted that for the first time they will compete well in Class One with the likes of last year’s triple champion Natoya Goule, Deniesha Morrison and Shanna-gay Tracey.
On the boys side, Calabar will field one of the most rounded teams in the competition and should hand coach Michael Clarke his 11th title, including one with St Jago and seven with Jamaica College.
Clarke was busy making last-minute preparations when the Observer caught up with him yesterday and when asked how confident he was of retaining the title, said: “I don’t know anything about winning Champs; we’re in good shape, we’re prepared and in high spirits.”
He said they would be “competitive” and rates the team to be just as good as last year’s and said it will “maintain our balance.”
Clarke said he is not one of the coaches who counts points before Champs but said they should score points in most events, especially in Class One and in the Open events where he believes they “have a significant edge over the other schools”.
His Class Two and Three teams, he said, are also balanced and would be able to compete well.
Michael Russell, who will guide Kingston College for the second year, was exuding quiet confidence when he spoke to the Observer yesterday.
“We have a very good chance of winning Champs this year and are looking at the field events which has been our area of strength traditionally,” he said.
He said he was expecting Kingston College, Calabar and Wolmer’s Boys to compete for the majority of the points in the field events, but added that “it will come down to the performance on the day”.
A total of between 240 to 250 points, he contends, should be enough to win the Mortimer Geddes Trophy and predicted that “based on the spread of talent, Champs this year should be one of the closest we’ve had in years”.
Last year Calabar won by 44.5 points but Russell predicts it could be closer this time around.
