MONTEGO BAY, St James — The stage is set for what could be one of the best men’s discus throw event on local soil in a long time at today’s IAAF World Challenge Jamaica International Invitational meet at the National Stadium.

However, there will be more than just bragging rights at stake as a number of athletes are still seeking to make the automatic qualifying mark for this summer’s IAAF World Championships in China, and among them will be Commonwealth Games and IAAF Continental Cup bronze medallist Jason Morgan.

Men’s throwing in Jamaica has improved leaps and bounds over the last few years, and making the qualifying distance of 65.00m will not be enough to get one’s name on a ticket to Beijing in August.

Two other throwers — Fedrick Dacres, the IAAF World Junior Champion in 2012, and former NCAA Division One champion Chad Wright — have already gone past the mark.

Dacres, who is based in Jamaica, has twice gone over 66.00m and is ranked at number four in the world, while Wright threw 65.03 in a meet in La Jolla, California, three weeks ago and is ranked 11th by the IAAF.

Morgan is not far off, however, and his season-best 63.52m set on April 25 at a local meet in Natchitoches, Louisiana, sees him within touching distance of throwing his name in the hat for a place on the team to China.

In a recent interview, Morgan told the Jamaica Observer he was motivated for a good 2015. “I have a new type of motivation going into this year coming off a successful year at the Commonwealth Games and IAAF Continental Cup. And I am looking forward to a great year,” he said.

Morgan had opened the season with a throw that ranked him seventh in the world at the time, but said there was a lot more to come given his plans and training regime.

The self-coached Morgan said he had “changed some stuff in … training; took away some stuff, and just training smarter, and already I am seeing results”.

While he works by himself, he says he gets external help and guidance.

“I got some guidance in 2012 and it worked well. I am getting more now and with that is going really good. I just have to be patient and everything geared towards the summer when we should see the fruits of the hard work,” Morgan ended.

— Paul Reid