St Andrew, Portland set for clash

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

The National Stadium will be buzzing with excitement when the 27th staging of the two-day Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA)/Sagicor National Primary, All-Age and Junior High Schools Championships starts at 10 a.m.

The championships, which will end on Friday, has attracted more than 1,260 athletes from all 14 parishes.

The meet is expected to be a very exciting affair, with defending champions St Andrew aiming to secure their third straight hold on the title. However, they should face stiff competition from last year's runners-up Portland, which they defeated by 13 points last year and third-place Kingston.

Stephon Brown, coach of St Andrew, said: "We have a very strong team and I am confident that we can retain our title. We also have lot all-round depth in our squad, both in the field and on track."

He added: "This is a top-class meet because we have the best athletes in St Andrew competing for the parish. We also have last year's overall champion girl, Runique Grey, and I am expecting her to dominate her three events, along with Brittaney Matthews, who won the 100m and 200m last year.

Portland's coach Marvia Williams is anxious to regain the title, which they last won three years ago.

"We are hoping and working very hard to take back our position as the number-one team in the island," said Williams. "We won it in 2007 and finished second behind Kingston in 2008 by one point, and we also placed second last year and so we are desperate to win back the title ... we have a very rounded team and the athletes have been working really hard in training."

Meanwhile, Marcia Purcell, manager of Kingston, who are still searching for their first hold on the trophy, is confident of a good showing.

"We are hoping that we can finish in the top five because we have been having some injury problems," said Purcell. "However, I am still very optimistic that we can put on a good showing, especially from our senior athletes."