AFTER six weeks of exciting competition, the Digicel Grand Prix Athletic Championship ended on an all-time high with Edwin Allen High and St Elizabeth Technical High School being crowned respective girls&https://#8217; and boys&https://#8217; champions at the final.

The series finale was held at the National Stadium during the GC Foster College Meet last Saturday.

And even with the programme being in its inaugural year, coaches, schools and student athletes are singing praises to the Grand Prix series, dubbing it one of the most exciting ventures that took place in track and field for 2015.

According to Maurice Wilson, chair of the technical committee for the Grand Prix, the series provided athletes with &https://#8220;a platform to showcase their skills&https://#8221;.

&https://#8220;In a sport that has been losing sponsors, stakeholders must have been very happy to see a major sponsor coming on board. The highlight for me personally was the fact that the Grand Prix was able to provide opportunity for a wide cross section of athletes&https://#8230; some of these athletes were coming to the stadium for the first time,&https://#8221; said Wilson.

Calabar High student athlete, Michael O&https://#8217;Hara, said the programme had &https://#8220;a great impact on me&https://#8221;.

&https://#8220;I was encouraged to train even harder so that I could come out victorious in the competition. Everyone also wants to be a Grand Prix champion as this is an opportunity for you to by UniDeals&https://#8221; style=&https://#8221;border: none !important; display: inline-block !important; text-indent: 0px !important; float: none !important; font-weight: bold !important; height: auto !important; margin: 0px !important; min-height: 0px !important; min-width: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; text-transform: uppercase !important; text-decoration: underline !important; vertical-align: baseline !important; width: auto !important; background: transparent !important;&https://#8221; in_hover=&https://#8221;&https://#8221; in_hdr=&https://#8221;1&https://#8243;>win money for your school&https://#8217;s sports programme,&https://#8221; he said.

Principal of girls&https://#8217; champion school Edwin Allen, Everton Walters, said the series could not have come at a better time.

&https://#8220;This series comes at a great time as we were having serious problems purchasing equipment for the school and developing the sports programme. These are both very costly. So we congratulate Digicel once again on this series and we are already looking forward to the next Grand Prix,&https://#8221; he noted.

For its part, Digicel says it&https://#8217;s extremely thankful for the outpouring of support that it received for the programme in its first year.

&https://#8220;The feedback from the schools, the athletes, the coaches and our customers in general has been extremely positive and encouraging,&https://#8221; said marketing director at Digicel, Peter Lloyd.

&https://#8220;Through this programme and our other athletic programmes, we are very committed to developing our athletes so that Jamaica can continue to introduce more rounded and talented sportsmen and women on the global stage.

&https://#8220;So we will definitely be taking all the learnings from this year&https://#8217;s staging to make 2016 an even bigger and better Grand Prix.&https://#8221;

The Digicel Grand Prix was launched on February 4 and saw over 2,000 student athletes from 200 high schools across Jamaica competing to win the grand prize of J$1 million worth of gym equipment for their schools.