DEFENDING champions John Mills will be hunting their 20th consecutive triumph at the 2014 Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) Junior High, All-Age and Primary Schools Track and Field Championships which begins today at the National Stadium at 8:30 am.

The 36th staging of the three-day Championships ends on Friday, and approximately 1,649 athletes will take part. The official Opening Ceremony takes place tomorrow at 1:00 pm.

This year the Class Four for boys and girls Under-11, Under-10 and Under-8 years-old have been introduced.

Events for Under-11 boys and girls will be the 100 metres, 200m and 4x100m relays; Under-10 boys and girls will be 100m, 150m and 4x100m relays; and for the Under-8 boys and girls, the events are 60 metres and 4x100m relays.

John Mills, coached by Ransford Spaulding, won last year followed by arch-rivals Windward Road with Cockburn Gardens finishing in third position.

John Mills also captured the boys’ and girls’ sections, respectively, over Windward Road in second place.

Twenty-two schools are expected to grace the track, with the other participating schools being Shortwood Practising, Constant Spring, Central Branch, Calabar All-Age, Mico Practising, Osbourne Store from Clarendon, Swallowfield and Greenwich All-Age, Louise Bennett-Coverly, White Marl, Green Park from Clarendon, Melrose, Braeton, Norman Gardens, Rest, Stony Hill, Seaward All-Age and Maverly Junior High Schools.

Meanwhile, coach Spaulding said prior to the start of today’s championships that he won’t be underrating any of his opponents as they all have equal chances of winning.

“I think John Mills have a good chance, but there will be arch-rivals Windward Road challenging strongly as over the years…” Spaulding said.

He was not too pleased about the sudden inclusion of Class Four boys and girls, saying they were not given enough time to prepare for these championships.

Spaulding will have two of his top runners from last year’s Class Two, Tyree Francis competing in the Class One boys’ 100m and 200m, and Shane Sinclair in the 200m and 400m, while Krissancia Sang will compete in the 100m and 200m for Class One girls, and Hadiya Gray in the Class One girls’ 100m and high jump.

Meanwhile, Owen Henry said he has not seen much of champions John Mills this season, other than at the Gibson Relays, “but with great expectations we are going to put up a good fight”.

“Windward Road is very strong in the field events and in the classes the team is going well, but with the introduction of Class Four, more points to be added and this could see a much closer championships,” Henry said.