Sub-10 Champs record under threat – Muschette
WITH THE high school track and field season now in full swing, Jamaica College’s (JC) sprint coach, Jody Muschette, has sent a massive warning to his rivals as he believes that the boys’ Class 1 100-metre record is under threat.
Last year, Kingston College’s (KC) Bouwahjgie Nkrumie made history at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’Athletics Championships when he became the first junior athlete to dip under 10 seconds, stopping the clock at 9.99 seconds.
But Muschette believes that Hector Benjamin is on track to challenge that record.
“Hector Benjamin, definitely. He will definitely perform. We’re going for the record for the 100m, definitely. Right now, we’re looking at him for great things at Champs.”
Benjamin had finished fourth in the boys’ 100m finals at Champs last year in 10.39, but his coach is confident that Benjamin will better his performance this time around.
IMPRESSIVE TIME
At last week’s McKenley/Wint Classics, Benjamin had thrown down the gauntlet when he opened his season with an impressive 10.34 clocking, and Muschette warned that there will be more to come as the season continues.
“I told him to go out there and do his best,” said Muschette.
“I know he was in that shape based on the times that he has been doing in training. That was no surprise to me, his time. He’s not peaked as yet, it’s his first time this season so that time will definitely come down.”
But Muschette insisted that while he has high expectations for his athletes, the coaching staff at JC are making sure that the team is properly managed, and that they are not being overworked.
Muschette believes that as the sport evolves, and athletes continue to run faster times at a younger age, it is very important that they are not placed under too much pressure. He said that his job as a coach is to ensure that they have a healthy high school career and can make that transition to the senior level.
“Boys’ Champs has been evolving. Athletes are now running faster times than ever before. I’ve been coaching for over 10 years, we have a lot of experienced coaches here at JC and it wouldn’t be in our best interest to peak an athlete at this time of the year, why would we do that?”
“At JC, we try our best not to burn out athletes. We sit down at the beginning of the season and try to identify meets that we want to target. We try our best not to overwork the athletes because we want them to have a career after high school, whether it’s at the college level or it’s at the international level. We do our best not to overwork them.”