Purewater/Danny Williams meet on today at JC

A busy 2022 track and field season for juniors starts today with the staging of the Purewater/R. Danny Williams Invitational meet at the Ashenheim Stadium, Jamaica College (JC).

The country’s junior athletes will be involved in two major meets later in the year with the staging of the Carifta Games in mid-April and the World Under-20 Championships in August.

Defending ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ defending champions, Edwin Allen High and Jamaica College, will head the teams down to compete at today’s meet. Also competing in the girls’ events will be St Jago High, Hydel High and Vere Technical. In addition to hosts JC, the top boys teams scheduled to compete are Kingston College, St Elizabeth Technical and St Jago.

The meet, which starts at 8 a.m., will be conducted under strict COVID-19 protocols and no spectators will be allowed.

FIRST TIME IN 11 YEARS

The Carifta Games will be held in Jamaica for the first time in 11 years. Jamaica last hosted the meet in 2011 in Montego Bay. The country hosted the meet on six other occasions in Kingston.

Both the April 5-9 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Championships and the Carifta Games will be dress rehearsals for the young athletes who will participate at the World Under-20 Championships to be held in Cali, Colombia, August 2-7. World Under-20 100 metres champion Tina Clayton and her world record breaking 4x100 metres team members, Edwin Allen High schoolmates Serena Cole and, her twin sister Tia and Serena Cole and Hydel High’s Kerrica Hill will be on show. All four are eligible to compete in Cali.

At this year’s World Under-20 Championships, Jamaica will be hoping to better last summer’s performance in Nairobi, Kenya, where the athletes bagged 11 medals – three gold, six silver and two bronze to finish fifth overall in the medal standing.