THE much anticipated Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association’s/Supreme Ventures National Senior Trials are set to get under way this morning at 9:30 am, kicking off what is expected to be four days of exciting track and field action as the nation’s top athletes seek places on several national teams.

The championships will help select athletes for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mexico in early July as well as the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, August 10-18.

The Moscow event is the big prize and with the exception of four athletes who have already booked their places via byes — defending champions Yohan Blake (men’s 100m) and Usain Bolt (men’s 200m) and IAAF Diamond League winners Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (women’s 100m) and Kaliese Spencer (women’s 400m hurdles) — everybody else will have to stake their claims over the four days of Trials.

Meanwhile, the championships will be missing some quality with the absence of 2011 women’s 200m champion Veronica Campbell Brown who is provisionally suspended after returning a positive drug test at a meet in May, while Blake — the defending men’s sprint double champion — will not take part as his handlers say he is not fit enough to compete this weekend.

The JAAA had announced last week that Blake and Bolt as defending champions would get the bye in their events ahead of the Diamond League champions. Bolt won the Diamond League 100m event while Nickel Ashmeade had won the 200m Diamond.

Just one final is scheduled to be competed today, the men’s javelin throw, set to start at 5:30 pm but there will be first round heats on the men’s and women’s 400m hurdles this morning followed by the first round of the men’s 100m.

The top 25 ranked men will be exempt from this morning’s first round in the 100m and the top seven on time will advance to this evening’s second round set to start at 7:15 pm where global super star Usain Bolt, who the Jamaica Observer was told, will be competing in both sprints.

Bolt has competed over the 100m twice this season and has a season’s best 9.94 seconds in a Diamond League race in Rome where he was beaten by American Justin Gatlin.

London Olympic Games relay gold medallist Kemar Bailey Cole recently ran a personal best 9.96 seconds at a Development Meet in Kingston and along with Olympic Games relay teammate Nesta Carter are expected to battle out for the other places.

There are also reports that World Championships medallist Asafa Powell, who was third last year, has recovered from his leg injury and should also face the starter.

The first round of the women’s 100m will also be run, but up to press time, it was unsure if Fraser-Pryce would compete as the JAAA had not released the heats sheets.

The first round of the men’s and women’s 400m are also scheduled to be run, while the Paralympian 100m and 400m finals as well as the Masters 400m finals will also be run.