Petersfield, Munro look to hold leads at Western Champs

Western Bureau:

Petersfield High School and Munro College will be looking to capitalise on day one leads at the Western Athletics Championship to prevent St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) from retaining both titles at home in Santa Cruz today.

Munro's boys on 63 points hold a healthy 25 points lead over STETHS' (38) after a strong showing on Wednesday's first day at Herbert Morrison where eight finals were contested. Herbert Morrison Technical (33), Maggotty High (28) and Petersfield High on 27 points complete the top five boys' teams.

Petersfield with 51 points have a mere half-a-point lead over the defending champions STETHS, on the girls' side. William Knibb Memorial are third on 27.50, Mount Alvernia High are fourth on 27 points and Maggotty High round out the top five with 12.

Head coach of Pertersfield, Machell Woolery, said going into the final day with the lead was expected with their quality in the field. However, while admitting STETHS' quality on the track he was confident that they have enough depth on the track to cause some problems for the defending champions.

"It (leading) doesn't really change much. We know that we have the depth to finish in the top three and if a victory comes at the end of the day, so be it. Two of our relay teams dropped their batons so that is a setback but we are going to compete and try as best as we can," Woolery said.

After doing well in the shot put on Wednesday, head coach of Munro Omar Bryan knew going into the final day with a sizeable lead was possible. He, however, won't get carried away given their deficiencies in the track but believes they are now poised for a top-five finish.

"We know that we are strong in the field and STETHS are stronger on the track, especially in the sprints. We do have some finalists on the track, so all we have to do is to maximise on those. We also have to score big in the remaining field events," Bryan said.

"I won't say I am confident about us holding out but I think we can finish maybe even third or fourth. A top-five finish would be good given we are just returning from a few years out," he added.