Hydel’s girls bow into action at Mckenley/wint meet
TWO TRACK and field development meets are on today. G.C. Foster College will host the Central Hurdles, Throws and Relays meet while Calabar High will stage the Mckenley/ Wint Invitational with both meets set to begin at 8:30 a.m.
At Calabar 2022 Girls’ Athletics Championships, runners-up Hydel High will make their first appearance of the season. The Ferry-based institution will be taking orders from their usual head coach Corey Bennett who will also be in charge of the Red Hills Road-based Calabar. It marks the first time in local high school history that one individual is in charge of both a top girls’ and a top boys’ team.
Bennett said there was no pressure on him ahead of the start of the season.
“For me there is no pressure as it is two different programmes and things have been going well at both institutions and with good help from my assistants at both schools, it makes my job much easier,” Bennett said yesterday.
Calabar placed third at Champs last year.
On the track, Hydel will be without top stars Kerrica Hill and Brianna Lyston who have left the school but three of their new recruits will be in action. World Under-20 representative and Girls’ Champs and Carifta Games Under-17 400 metres defending champion Abigail Campbell will contest the one lap event. Campbell competed for Ferncourt High last year.
Defending Class Three 80 metres hurdles champion Camoy Binger, a former student of St Jago High, will contest the Class Two 100m and 100m hurdles. Former Steer Town High middle-distance athlete Kaydene Johnson will compete in the 3000m open. Both Binger and Campbell will not be eligible for the school at Champs this year as under ISSA rules they must sit out a year.
Kingston College will be out in large numbers at the meet where they will clash with the hosts and Jamaica College.
Edwin Allen High, following a good start to their season where they dominated the middledistance events at the Douglas Forrest Invitational meet last Saturday, will again be in action at G.C. Foster College today. The defending girls’ champions at Champs have not done well in hurdles events at the intersecondary championships and coach Michael Dyke will be using the opportunity to ‘test’ his hurdlers.
“We will be sending out our hurdlers to test the waters as this has not been one of our strong events over the years and hopefully we will see some improvement,” he stated. Santae Wilson in Class Two 100m hurdles along with Toni Ann Forbes and Natasha Fox in the 400m hurdles open will carry the first for Edwin Allen.
St Jago High’s girls will also be in action at G.C. Foster College and according to head coach, Keilando Goburn, his team is in a rebuilding process. “We have lost several of our athletes who were eligible for Champs this year which has significantly weakened the team and this season we are in a rebuilding process,” Goburn said.