‘Champs’ build-up continues - Youngster Goldsmith, Eastern Invitational and Alcoa meet take spotlight
Published:Saturday | February 2, 2019 | 12:00 AM
THE build-up to what is expected to be the most competitive ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships in years will continue today with the staging of three development meets across the island.
The Eastern Invitational Track Meet will take place at the Paul Bogle High School, while Jamalco will host the Alcoa Invitational in Clarendon. In the Corporate Area, the 22nd staging of the Youngster Goldsmith Classics will take focus inside the National Stadium. The rural meets will start at 8:30 a.m. with the latter set to get under way at 8 a.m.
The Youngster Goldsmith Classics will attract the majority of the high-school athletes in what should give a truer picture of where the respective titles will be heading in March. Events down to be contested here are the 100m, 400m, 1500m, 2000m steeplechase, with the 200m and 800m invitational races along with sprint and 400m hurdles. There will also be throwing and jumping action in the field.
With both championships expected to go down to the wire this year at Champs, the hurdles could play a pivotal role.
The best of the best will be known today, especially in the sprint hurdles, considering that this is the only development meet which will have preliminary and final rounds.
St Jago’s girls and Kingston College have come out of the blocks impressively so far this season in these events, and both will be hoping to continue this trend today in the face of a severe test.
Danae Edwards, who has ran 11.70 seconds in a negative wind of 3.0 metre per second, along with her St Jago teammate Kaylajay Clarke, 11.73 seconds, are the two quickest so far in the Class Two 80-metre hurdles and both look set to fight out the finish here. Holmwood Technical’s Atalliah Wallace, 11.83, and Edwin Allen’s Brian Watt, with 11.98 seconds, should also be in contention here.
A year ago, St Jago’s Crystal Morrison and Excelsior’s Ackera Nugent had a battle royal in the Class Two 100m hurdles, and this trend should continue this season.
Morrison, the Carifta Games Under-17 record holder, is the only athlete to have gone under 14 seconds so far this season, doing so three times with a best of 13.59 seconds. Nugent, the Olympic Youth Games bronze medallist in the event, is yet to open her season and will want to do so in style in her first appearance.
The Queen’s High’s Dazsay Freeman, 13.97 seconds, is the quickest so far in Class One 100m hurdles and will be determined to win again and improve on that time. However, if Camperdown’s Britany Anderson, the IAAF World Under-20 silver medallist, face the start, then Freeman could be thinking of second place.
Kingston College’s duo of Wayne Pinnock and Akeem Cargill are the two best sprint hurdlers in Class One this season following impressive runs at Central Hurdles and the Queen’s Grace Jackson Meet, where they both dominated. Cargill is the quickest so far with his 13.81-seconds clocking at the Queen’s Meet where Pinnock was second best with 13.95 seconds. Despite the expected strong support from their fans on Saturday, they should play second fiddle to Calabar’s De’Jour Russell, who will be making his season debut in the event.
Champs record holder Vashaun Vascianna is in a class of his own this season in the Class Two 110m hurdles following spectacular performances so far, including a quick 13.61-seconds opening run at Jamaica College. His St Jago teammate Jaheel Granville, with a season best of 14.15 seconds, will be hoping for a quinella but Jamaica College’s Neil Matthew Sutherland with a best of 13.84 seconds when winning at the Central Hurdles Meet, along with Sharvis Simmonds of Excelsior – 14.18 seconds this season, will both have a say here.
Petersfield High’s Shaquena Foote should continue her winning ways in the Girls’ Open 400m hurdles. Despite doing the event for only the first time this season, she looked awesome when winning at Calabar in a record 58.17 seconds and followed up that with a win at the STETHS Invitational Meet last Saturday.