Kirkvine, Douglas Forrest and Charlie Fuller meets take focus
FOLLOWING THE staging of the first two meets on the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) calendar last Saturday, action will step up a notch today with the staging of three meets, with the parishes of St Catherine and Manchester being in the spotlight.
The GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport in Spanish Town will host the Douglas Forrest Invitational, while at Manchester High, there will be the Charlie Fuller Field Events meet, with the JAAA/Puma Development meet scheduled for Windalco, Kirkvine. All three meets will begin at 8:30 a.m.
Once again, the top high school female teams will be in action at Kirkvine, and following good results so far, especially from national champions Edwin Allen and former powerhouse Holmwood Technical, we should see more intense action this week. Former champions St Jago High and Vere Technical, which just entered a few athletes at the Purewater/JC Danny Williams meet at Jamaica College last week, are expected to be at tomorrow’s event in large numbers.
Edwin Allen High’s top sprinter, Patrice Moodie, will open her account this season in the girls Class I 200m, while Holmwood Technical’s Nicolee Foster, who blazed the track several weeks ago with a fast sub-1:34 seconds in the 600m at the GC Foster College Over Distance meet, is expected to compete in the 400m.
STRONG MESSAGE
On the male side, Kingston College will be present in large numbers, and after an overall good performance last week, the Neil Harrison-coached team will be hoping for another strong performance in their bid to send a strong message to defending champions Calabar High.
Here, their top Class I sprinter, Jhevaughn Mattherson, who is expected to lead the fight for his team this year, will open up as he is down to compete in the 400m. It was at this same meet last year that St Elizabeth Technical’s Nigel Ellis started his impressive campaign for 2016, and Mattherson will be hoping to do likewise.
At the Douglas Forrest meet, Calabar High is expected to show up in force. Members of their powerful Class II team, led by World Under-20 representatives Dejour Russell and Christopher Taylor, will make their appearance in Class I. On the female side, the vastly improved Hydel High are expected to lead the charge.
The events down to be contested here include the boys 400m hurdles for Class I and II, the girls 400m hurdles Open, 200m and 400m, along with high and long jumps.
There were some outstanding results in the field last week at Jamaica College, and this should continue at the Charlie Fuller meet, where the events to be contested are the javelin, discus, shot put, high jump, long jump, and triple jump.