MONTEGO BAY, St James — Christoff Bryan, the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) field events male athlete and World Junior 400m and Youth Olympic Games 110m hurdles champion Jaheel Hyde will lead a powerful 78-member Jamaican team to the 2015 CARIFTA Games to be held in St Kitts April 3-6.

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) released the team yesterday following last weekend’s CARIFTA Trials held at the National Stadium in Kingston.

The breakdown of the team sees 18 athletes in the Under-18 section and 21 in both Under-20 sections, for boys and girls.

Jamaica won 89 medals last year — 42 gold, 34 silver and 13 bronze at the event held in Martinique.

Twelve athletes will defend titles won last year, including Jauavney James who won two individual gold medals.

Lushae Wilson will defend the Under-18 boys high jump, while in the Under-18 girls, Kimone Shaw, Janeek Brown and Lamara Distin will defend their titles.

In the Under-20 girls, Sasha-gay Whyte in the 1500m, Tamara Moncrieff in the triple jump and Rochelle Frazer in the discus are returning champions.

Michael O’Hara is the Under-20 boys 200m champion, Clayton Brown won the high jump, Odaine Lewis won the triple jump and Demar Gayle won the shot put.

Bryan, who lost at CARIFTA Games last year for the first time, beaten by teammate Clayton Brown, has been outstanding in his first season for Kansas State in the high jump, clearing 2.28m indoors at the Tyson Invitational earlier this year.

Hyde, who competed in an individual event for the first time this season when he ran at the CARIFTA Trials, showed he was continuing where he left off last year with a 49.78 seconds in the intermediate hurdles then won the 110m the next day with 13.22 seconds.

World Junior Championships 200m bronze medallist Michael O’Hara, who won the boys Under-20 sprint double last weekend as well as Christopher Taylor and Akeem Bloomfield, who both ran sub 46.00 seconds in the 400m, were also named in the team.

On the female side, Youth Olympic Games 200m champion Natalyiah Whyte, World Youth 100m hurdles champion Yanique Thompson and World Youth 400m bronze medallist Tiffany James are the outstanding athletes named.

— Paul Reid