Excelsior, KC look to retain titles at Corporate Area Champs

Seventeen finals will be contested on today’s opening day of the two-day ISSA Corporate Area Track and Field Championships at the National Stadium.

The finals that are down to be contested today are the girls’ Class One discus, Class One high jump, Class Four long jump, the 1500 metres for classes one, two and three, Class Two high jump, Class Two long jump, Class Two discus, Class Three discus, and Class Four high jump.

The finals to be contested on the boys’ side are the 1500m for all classes, Class One discus, Class Three long jump, and Class Two discus.

Michael Vassell, head coach of Excelsior High, the defending girls’ champions, said his athletes are ready and raring to go.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” he said. “The thing with the pandemic is that it has not given us a lot of looks at any of the teams, but I think the one thing that we do have over a lot of the other teams is numbers. We will be represented in most events, and we have a lot of quality within our Class Three and Class Four.”.

The veteran coach added that he is expecting strong competition from Wolmer’s Girls and Immaculate High. Vassell also stated that his girls are well aware of what is at stake and therefore they are very focused on the task at hand.

“The kids are ready because for us, this is our Champs, so it is a good team-building exercise for us,” said Vassell. “This is where the team gets a lot of drive going into the ISSA Boys and Girls’ Championships, and so we take a lot of pride in defending our title, and we take a lot of pride in winning,” he said.

CHAMPIONSHIP

“Our main competition has always been Wolmer’s, and we expect them to be strong as usual,” Vassell noted. “Immaculate are a very good team, and they are one of the contenders. Both of those teams (Wolmer’s and Immaculate) are strong, and it will help us because they will be taking points from each other, and we will just keep our score ticking and win the championship.”

He expects strong performances from Dejona Simpson, who will be competing in Class One 400m and 400m hurdles along with Tashaika Thompson and Janiela Williams in Classes Three and Four, respectively. Defending boys champions Kingston College (KC) will be strongly challenged by Jamaica College (JC). JC won last year’s Boys’ Champs title and have a very strong team KC will be led by the Henry twins, Gianni and Giovouni, in Class One middle-distances while JC are also strong in Class One, where 800m runner J’Voughnn Blake and sprinter Christopher Scott will be among the top athletes.

The meet is set to start at 9 a.m. Spectators can purchase tickets at the gate but must be fully vaccinated and provide their vaccination cards along with a government-issued identification card.

The cost of the tickets are $1,000 on Friday and $1,500 on Saturday for the grandstand only.