KC UNSTOPPABLE

ALL INDICATORS point to a two-way fight among the boys for top honours when the five-day ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) gets under way next Tuesday.

The battle should be between defending and 21-time champions, Jamaica College (JC), and 2019 champions, Kingston College (KC), the most successful team at Champs with 32 titles.

The schools, rivals in multiple sporting disciplines, will continue those epic clashes like they did months ago during the Manning Cup where the North Street-based KC got the better of their Old Hope Road counterparts.

Then, the two teams seemed head and shoulders better than the other competitors and so it seems ahead of next Tuesday. The other perennial top team in high school track and field, Calabar High School, are in rebuild mode.

Based on performances leading up to Champs, though, the two-way battle seems to be leading KC’s way with North Street showing more all-round depth than any other team this season.

WELL LOADED

Led by team captain, JVoughnn Blake, JC are well loaded in middle-distance event. Blake and Handel Roban in Class One along with Rasheed Pryce and Tyrone Lawson in Class Two are important cogs in that middle-distance wheel, but there is also Glory Clarke and Alex Baker in Class Three, who will help them score heavily in the 800 and 1500 metres.

While KC are not as strong in the middle distances, they should still give a good account of themselves with twin brothers Giovani and Gianna Henry leading the charge in Class One. Nahashon Ruto in Class Three will be hoping to keep the Purples not too far behind.

While JC look set to pile on the pressure in the middle distances, KC look prepared to bounce back in the hurdles and jumping events, especially in the latter.

With their powerful vertical and horizontal jumping squad, KC should separate themselves big time from their opponents. The likes of Jaydon Hibbert, Jouvaughn Cephas, Verrol Sam and Jayden Hibbert in Class One, Aaron McKenzie and Aaron Thomas in Class Two, as well as Amari Phillips and Neeko Reid in Class Three, look well set to dominate here and could put the eventual champions out of sight.

To make matters worse, KC are led by Class One 400-metre hurdlers Rayon Campbell and Antonio Forbes and have Jordan Mowatt in Class Two to boot. That, along with their quality sprint hurdlers, KC also have too much firepower in an area JC are expected to be found wanting.

KC also have the strongest Class Three team at Champs. Unfortunately for JC, this is an area they have struggled this season.

All that said, KC look set for title number 33.

According to Gleaner Sports points projection, KC should win by a whopping 71 points.

Projected points total

Top Five

Teams Points

1. Kingston College 372

2. Jamaica College 301

3. Calabar 195

4. St Jago 162

5. Edwin Allen 74