Naggo Head launch quest for third straight title

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

More than 3,000 athletes from 65 schools will descend on the National Stadium today for the 31st staging of the Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) Swizzzle All-Island Primary School Athletics Championships.

The competition, which will run over four days, is slated to get on the way at 10 a.m. on the opening day and 9 a.m. on the remaining three days, with Naggo Head attempting to seal a hat-trick of wins.

There are no finals down to be contested on the opening day, but the preliminaries for the exciting 4x100m relays for all four classes, the girls' and boys' 4x200m relays and the girls' and boys' 800m sprint medley, the 800m dash and the boys' long jump open are all down to be contested.

This year's championship will not feature any new event, which meet director, Glen Mills, attributes to the large number of participants.

"Due to the fact that we have so many competitors, for us to have additional events, we would have to add an additional day and, at this stage, we are not able to do that," Mills said.

Thirty-six events will be contested over the four days in four classes: Under-8, Under-10, Under-11 and Under-12.

For the first year, associate sponsors are on board to fund individual events.

St Benedict's Primary, who won three consecutive titles between 2006 and 2008 before they were dethroned by two-time defending champions Naggo Head Primary, are said to experiencing internal administrative problems, resulting in them being absent from the championship.

The championship, which began in 1981, has produced the likes of World and Olympic champions Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Melaine Walker, Carifta Games double gold medallist Jazeel Murphy and 2007 World Youth 200m champion, Ramone McKenzie.