It’s on now
MONTEGO BAY, St James
The quest for places on the national track and field teams will step up a notch or two this Saturday with the staging of the first Custom Marbles/JAAA All-comers meet at the Catherine Hall Sports Complex, starting at 2:00 pm.
Dozens of athletes, mostly from western Jamaica, are expected to turn out for the meet that will see competition in events ranging from 100m to 3,000m, and the long jump in Open Classes for males and females.
Events will be run on a timed final basis, meaning winners will be decided on times run. With places on a number of national teams ranging from under-17 to seniors available, the athletes will be hoping to get into top form and vie for places at the National Trials set for June 22-24 at the national stadium.
Western Jamaica’s best bet will come in the juniors, who will be vying for places at meets, such as the IAAF World Youth Championships (under-18) in Ostrava, Czech Republic between July 11 and 15, as well as the PanAm Juniors (under-20) in Belize between July 6 and 8.
Herbert Morrison’s double Carifta Games record breaker Dexter Lee will headline the list, along with his teammates who had an outstanding season. Herbert Morrison’s coach Claude Grant said earlier this week that he had not decided which of the sprints Lee would be taking part in.
Whichever of the races he runs – the 100m or 200m – he should clash with Manning’s Darrion Bent who was second in the Class 2 100m and fourth in the 200m at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Champs.
Tevaskie Lewin, the Champs Class 2 long jump winner should face off with Manning’s Dexter McKenzie, the Carifta Games under-17 silver medal winner.
Green Island’s Denardo Coote has been well rested since Boys’ Champs, and will once again attempt to beat Herbert Morrison’s Keniel Lee over the 400m.
Meet director Ray Harvey said despite the one-day meet being held in Montego Bay, he was expecting athletes from other parts of the country to take part. He noted that preliminary discussions with coaches from the eastern end of the country, including Kingston, had suggested they would travel to Montego Bay for what is shaping up to be an interesting afternoon of top quality competition. This being a JAAA-sanctioned meet, electronic timing will be used.
