Pure Water/JC meet to kick off 2024 track season

THE 2024 local track and field season will get under way on Saturday, January 6 with the 30th staging of the Pure Water/JC/R. Danny Williams Development meet to be held at the Ashenheim Stadium, Old Hope Road, starting at 8:30 a.m.

The very popular meet is a qualifying event for the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships and meet organiser Ian Forbes is anticipating another successful staging.

“This meet is dubbed ‘The meet with a difference’ and is anxious to maintain its established image of being a well-organised and well-run meet. We are depending on all participants to assist us to ensure that all competitors are given an opportunity to qualify,” said Forbes.

“Since the pandemic hiatus, the meet has seen females competing in the morning session and males in the afternoon but things will get back to normal this time around as males and females will compete concurrently. Also, the meet has been sanctioned by World Athletics and athletes will get the chance to earn ranking points,” said Forbes who added that they have received a record number of entries from many of the top local schools and institutions.

As usual, the occasion will be used to honour four past students of the Old Hope Road-based school who over the past 20 years and more have contributed significantly to the school’s sports programme. The four honourees for 2024 are Brandon Minott, Delroy Brown, David Robotham and Aldington Smith.

Events to be contested on the track will be the 100m, 400m and 800m in all classes for males and females while there will be 3000m Open for females and 5000m for males. In addition there will be all hurdle events – 70m, 80m and 100m hurdles for females, 100m and 110m hurdles for males while there will also be 400m hurdles for both males and females.

In the field the events down to be contested are high jump, long jump, triple jump and the throwing events – discus, shot put and javelin.