Portland looking to get back to winning ways

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

Portland are looking to return to the glory days of 2007 when they claimed their first and only hold on the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA)/Sagicor National Primary, All-Age and Junior High Schools Athletic Championships. They have since been forced to play the role of bridesmaids, placing second over the past three years.

At last year's staging, Portland amassed 270 points to finish 58 points adrift of two-time defending champions St Andrew. Sports coordinator and head coach for the parish, Herman Reid, anticipates a much improved performance from his charges this time around.

"We have a great chance of closing the gap and coming out victorious this year because the team we had last year was a young team," Reid said. "So they will be naturally mature because of last year's experience, so we are expecting them to do better than last year," he added.

Improving field events

Reid and his team have been paying specific attention to the field events where they have been found wanting in previous years.

"Preparation has been going good so far," Reid disclosed. "We know St Andrew are strong in the field events and we are really trying to see if we can become stronger in those areas.

"We have been dominating for the past four years on the track, but we have been losing the championship because we have been outclassed in the field, especially high jump and long jump due to a lack of those facilities in the parish," he added.

Reid, who has been head coach of the parish since 1999, has sought to address the problem by forging a relation with Buff Bay High School, last year's Eastern Championships winner.

"Their (Buff Bay's) strength is in the field events, so the coach is working with the high jumpers to see what we can get from high jump this year as we didn't get a point from that event last year," Reid said.

Portland will be looking to the likes of Jessica Andrews, who finished second in both the 800m and 1500m last year, and Tiffany Higgins, who also placed second in the 200m and third in the 400m, to lead their charge. There is also Shamoy Hines who did well in Class Two last year. She has moved up to Class One and will be running in the 200m and 400m.

On the boys' side, Shane Bishop who was a silver medalist last year in the 400m at Class Two and Romario and Amario Fearon who have been doing well over the past four years are expected to give good performances.