""... Come Champs you can look for a 10.0," Blake said at the recent Carifta Trials."
Defending boys champions Calabar High and Holmwood Technical High's girls will start as the firm favourites when the 2008 GraceKennedy/ISSA Boys' and Girls' Championships begins at the National Stadium this morning.
Both schools registered emphatic victories at the four-day meet last year and still possess the depth and quality performers to retain their titles.
Kingston College (KC) and Jamaica College (JC) are Calabar's main rivals, while Holmwood are expected to be strongly challenged by Edwin Allen High, Vere Technical and Manchester High.
Calabar's head coach Michael Clarke and Holmwood's Maurice Wilson, head coach for the girls, have both expressed confidence going into the championships.
"We are hoping to come out victors," Clarke said. "We are doing the necessary things. It just boils down to who can hold their heads and deliver on the day."
Key players
Holmwood have lost some key players from last year, but Wilson still thinks that his team can beat back the challenges of their main rivals. Holmwood earned 353.5 points last year and Wilson is looking to get close to that tally again.
"A bad Champs for us would be 331 points, so if I have a very good Champs it can be anywhere between 331 and 350," Wilson said.
Calabar's main strength is in Class One where they will be led by World Youth Championships 200 metres gold medalist Ramone McKenzie. McKenzie will compete in the 200m and 400m, and will be a leading member of the 4x100m and 4x400m open quartets. Other top competitors in Class One are hurdler Warren Weir and sprinter Oshane Bailey. In Class Two Calabar will be looking to the diminutive Earl Lee, a recent double winner in the Under-17 division at the Carifta Trials.
KC and JC have strong allround teams and will be there to pounce if the champions slip up.
"We expect to do very well and we will be very competitive as usual," KC's new head coach Michael Russell said.
Tarik Batchelor in the Class One jumps, hurdler Keiron Stewart and middle distance runner Donahue Williams are three athletes who should score heavily for KC.
JC's coach John Mair wants to change the address of the Mortimer Geddes Trophy this year.
"I think JC have just as good a chance as any of the top schools. We have been finishing in the top three for the past three years and we are hoping to move to the top this year," Mair said last Thursday.
JC will be looking to sprinter Winston Barnes and middle distance runner Bengallo Morrison in Class One. In Class Two the leading points getters should be high jumper David Hall and the talented Waqar DaCosta in the 400m and 800m.
Like Calabar, Holmwood have an impressive Class One aggregation which includes Bobby-Gaye Wilkins who will be seeking a 400m, 800m double, heptathlete Salcia Slack, 800m runner Keno Heaven and 400m hurdler Andrea Reid. In Class Two, sprinter Petra Fanty and hurdler Sashawna Bennett should do well while in Class Four sprinter Kedisha Dallas and high jumper Shanice McPherson were winners at the Central Championships and should do well at the championships.
Edwin Allen's coach Michael Dyke is eyeing at least second at the meet. We will do well in the Class One sprints and the 4x100m relay and middle distances.
"Our aim is to win the championship ... but if that's out of our reach then we are looking for second," Dyke said.
Quality performances will also be produced by athletes from a number of other schools.
National junior 100m record holder Yohan Blake has vowed to go close to the world junior mark of 10.01 seconds held by Trinidad and Tobago's Darrell Brown.
Strong challenges
"... Come Champs you can look for a 10.0," Blake said at the recent Carifta Trials. He will face strong challenges in the 100m from team-mate Nickel Ashmeade and World Youth 100m champion Dexter Lee of Herbert Morrison High.
Bellefield High's Kemoy Campbell is also expected to be one of the stars of the meet. Campbell will be aiming to lower the meet records in the Class One 1,500m and 5,000m open events.
Immaculate High's Misha-Gaye DaCosta, who cleared a personal best 1.84m for silver at the World Youth Championships, should also be among the outstanding performers at this year's meet.
For the first time the annual championships will have a theme song. The song, 'Hol' A Vibe' is a collaborated effort between title sponsors GraceKennedy and associate sponsors CVM TV.
GraceKennedy's chief executive officer and chairman, Douglas Orane, said the song " ... will serve to raise the awareness in schools, especially in those that are not usually in the winners' enclosure".
More than 2,400 athletes from 87 boys and 76 girls teams are down to compete at this year's meet. Four finals are scheduled on today's opening day which begins at 8:15 a.m. - the girls' triple jump open, discus Classes Three and One and the boys' Class One long jump.
Article source: https://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080312/sports/sports1.html
Author: 23 Mar 2008 - Anthony Foster