Western Relays set to sizzle at G C Foster
TODAY’S staging of the 46th Milo Western Relays at G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport in Angels, St Catherine, will be historic with the staging of throwing events for the first time since the meet started in 1977 at Cornwall College in Montego Bay.
Throwing events — discus throw and shot put — in all classes for high school students are being included for the first time, and Meet Director Ray Harvey says they are responding to requests from the schools that usually take part.
“We have evolved from being just a relays and track events meet,” Harvey told the Jamaica Observer. “Over the years we have added events as we have to be mindful of the demands of the schools and the clubs that compete at the meet.”
He says they preeviously added the high jump and the long jump.
“We also added hurdles when we moved to the Montego Bay Sports Complex, as the schools were asking for it, and also we responded to a request from the JAAA at a time when they wanted to add more 800m races to the calendar,” he said.
One of the events that is expected to get a lot of attention is the Invitational 60m races for males and females, and Harvey said, “once again we were approached and asked if we could accommodate these races, and we were more than willing to do so”.
Today’s staging of the meet has been “oversubscribed” Harvey said. “Our meet management capacity will be tested to its full extent this year as we have at least 16 more races than we had last year.”
Today there will be competition in the 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and sprint medley relays, in addition to the 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 3000m events as well as sprint and intermediate hurdles.
Like most other meets so far, entries for this year’s meet have jumped from the last two stagings, and the regular protagonists — Kingston College and Excelsior High on the boys’ side and Edwin Allen High and Holmwood Technical on the girls’ side — are thus expected to get serious challenges today from Bellefield High, William Knibb Memorial, Herbert Morrison Technical, Maggotty High, Mt Alvernia High, and Clarendon College.
G C Foster College, Sprint Tech, and MVP are the top club teams.
For the first time in decades the organisers are anticipating they will go past the 6 pm time when the final event — the men’s 4x400m relays — is to start, but Harvey is optimistic that the meet will produce its usual high-quality level of competition from the prep/ primary section, through to the high schools, and onto the clubs and institutions section.
Over the past few stagings the longer relays — the 4x400m and the 4x800m — have rivalled the sprint relays, and this trend is expected to continue today.
Edwin Allen High and Holmwood Technical are expected to renew their rivalry in the women’s 4x800m relays during which it is anticipated Bellefield High will add to the quality of the event. On the high school boys’ side Kingston College is expected to be challenged by Edwin Allen High, William Knibb Memorial, and Bellefield High.
In the individual event Herbert Morrison Technical’s Daandre Daley is down to open his 100m season today and will hope to defend the title he won last year.
Daley — who is expected to be a contender for gold medals at the Issa/gracekennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships and Carifta Games later this year and who ran a personal best 10.08 seconds last year — is set to go up against Jeevan Newby and Odaine Mcpherson.