Titans set for 400m clash at Carifta trials

Local track and field fans are in for a treat as the country's top junior athletes will be seeking places on Jamaica's team to this year's Carifta Games in Nassau, Bahamas, when they compete in the Carifta Trials at the National Stadium, starting tomorrow afternoon.

This will also be a prelude to the GC Foster Classics, the finale of the Digicel Grand Prix series, which would also promises some mouth-watering clashes.

Athletes will be competing in two age groups Under-20 and Under-17. The latter has been revisited after several years of Under-18 competition. With the IAAF World Under-18 not in existence anymore, the athletes will once again be competing in the Under-17 category.

Two weeks ago, fans were treated to a special 400 metres at the Corporate Area Development meet, where Calabar's Christopher Taylor and Kingston College's Dashawn Morris were both involved in an epic battle, with a repeat expected this weekend.

Undoubtedly the best schoolboy quarter-miler in the island, Taylor got a run for his money in the Class One event as the vastly improved Morris, tested him all the way before Taylor found extra in the final stage to hold off his opponent, with both athletes dipping under 46 seconds. Taylor got the win in 45.84 seconds to Morris' 45.93 seconds run.

That run has certainly added to Morris' confidence, and the KC man will be looking to set the foundations to improve on his third-place finish at Champs last year.

Another Calabar man, Anthony Carpenter, who was second in the Class One event at Champs last year, and Shemar Chambers, formerly of St George's College, along with Petersfield's Antonio Watson, who won the event at the World Under-18 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, last summer, should all make this a must-see event.

The preliminary round of this event is set to get under way tomorrow at 5:45 p.m., with the finals taking place on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.