BY HOWARD WALKER

Observer senior reporter

walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com

KALIESE Spencer looks a safe bet for the ScotiaBank/Jamaica Administrative Athletics Associa-tion (JAAA) Female Athlete of the Year Award, but the male section appears wide open as the 10 nominees were announced at the ScotiaBank Centre at Tower Street yesterday.

Spencer, who won the 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games and is also the 2014 Diamond League overall winner, heads a list that includes Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Novlene Williams-Mills, Stephanie McPherson and Kimberly Williams.

The Male Athlete of the Year nominees are Kemar Bailey-Cole, Odayne Richards, Rasheed Dwyer, Hansle Parchment and Andrew Riley. The winner will be known during Friday’s Scotia/JAAA Golden Cleats Awards at the Terra Nova Hotel.

Bernard Panton, the JAAA Selection Committee chairman, also announced the Coach of The Year nominees who are Fitz Coleman, Linval Swaby, Stephen Francis, Maurice Wilson and Glen Mills.

In what was a relatively low-keyed year for Jamaica’s top athletes, the choices are not so straight forward making the awards an intriguing one.

Spencer, 27, is the clear-cut favourite for the female section despite the presence of multiple winner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

Spencer is the IAAF Diamond Race 400m hurdles winner; the Continental Cup winner; Commonwealth champion and she won 10 of 11 races at 400m hurdles. Her outstanding form saw her being the only Jamaican — male and female — to be nominated for the IAAF World Athlete of the Year.

That’s alone is a clear indicator that Spencer is a shoo-in for the award despite the efforts of Commonwealth 400m champion McPherson, Commonwealth Games Triple jump gold medal winner Kimberly Williams and IAAF World Indoor 60m champion Fraser-Pryce and 400m specialist Williams-Mills.

The male section is the closest in years, and with the legendary Usain Bolt injured most of the season, two sprint hurdlers in Andrew Riley and Hansle Parchment lead the way.

Riley is the National and Commonwealth Games 110m hurdles champion, while Parchment became the first Jamaican to dip below the 13-second barrier in establishing the national record of 12.94 seconds at the Paris Diamond League in July.

This was Parchment’s fourth win in seven races this season with his time making him the 16th athlete in history to break the 13-second barrier and also the 10th fastest in history.

Bailey-Cole won the blue ribbon 100m event at the Commonwealth games, while Rasheed Dwyer won the 200m. O’Dayne Richards broke the Commonwealth Games shot put record with a throw of 21.61m, his personal best.

Each year ScotiaBank hosts the event, provides scholarships of up to $250,000 to two promising athletes at the tertiary level, and presents the JAAA with equipment to assist in hosting track meets. Previously they provided high jump bag and hurdles. And this year they are set to hand over an electronic display board for use during field events.

Hugh Reid, president of Scotia Insurance, said his company is committed to the development of sport in Jamaica.

“Sports is an integral part of social life in Jamaica. Cricket and football have always been a main staple, and our track athletes continue to do us proud locally and internationally,” said Reid.

“We have involved ourselves by partnering with a myriad of entities who work in varied areas of sports. But for track and field, we chose to support the JAAA with the annual awards that recognises the top sports men and women of the year,” he explained.

“In the four years of our support we have had the privilege of presenting the magnificent Golden Cleats trophy to some of Jamaica’s most outstanding athletes. Persons like Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Pryce, Veronica Campbell, just to name a few. Today, we look forward to hearing who the JAAA nominees will be. But we are already sure they have all excelled in their sport of choice,” he added.